ARCA
Series Mansfield spotlight - Kevin Cywinski
Mansfield ARCA Short Track War on the Way; Car Owner Kevin Cywinski Knows MANSFIELD OH (6-18-09) - Get your short track shoes on; it's time for another ARCA RE/MAX Series bump-and-grind bull fight when this Saturday's Tim Richmond ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:47 PM
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Mansfield ARCA Short Track War on the Way; Car Owner Kevin Cywinski Knows
MANSFIELD OH (6-18-09) - Get your short track shoes on; it's time for another ARCA RE/MAX Series bump-and-grind bull fight when this Saturday's Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA 200 presented by National Speed Sport News rolls off on the ultra-tight Mansfield Motorsports Park half-mile oval in Mansfield, Ohio.
But according to several sources, the track, with its paperclip corners, isn't really a half-mile at all.
"If it's a half-mile, it's around the outside wall," said the current car owner championship point leader Kevin Cywinski.
Cywinski would know. The 3-time ASA national driving champion won a 300-lap race at Mansfield way back when and understands the quirky little short track as well as anyone. Cywinski also won the race without a single pitstop. Dennis Setzer did the same thing (no pitstop) in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Mansfield.
"We're already thinking about the possibility of going all the way. But it also depends on tire wear. We've haven't raced the Hoosier radial there with these cars yet, so we need to be aware of that and keep an eye on it."
Cywinski also knows how important track position is at Mansfield where passing is not exactly a simple thing.
"Track position (at Mansfield) is so huge that if you think you can make it on fuel, you almost have to go for it. Either that or pit way early so you can have track position for the end. But if there's a bunch of cars on the lead lap near the end, and you pit for fuel, tires, whatever, you're going to run out of time getting back to the front.
"It's a lot like Lanier and Lake Erie would probably be the closest examples I could give. I think you'll see a little more bumping than you do at Toledo."
Ouch, because we know what the last two races at Toledo have been like - short track battle grounds where no cars went back on the haulers unscathed.
"You might be able to get underneath someone off turn two. Other than that, it's pretty tough. There's a lot of banking in turn three, and it's deceiving because you think you have lots of room, but then it flattens off so much coming off four. It's pretty hard to run side-by-side around that place so we'll see.
"Like all tracks, you've got to get the car to turn, so you can drive it straight off the corners and get grip in the rear wheels."
Cywinski, who co-owns the Win Tron Racing team with Nate Thiesse, leads the car owner points by 70 points headed to Mansfield. The Win Tron team has utilized three drivers so far in 2009 including Daytona/Kentucky winner James Buescher, Kelly Bires and Portland, Texas driver Matt Merrell. Merrell, entered in the Win Tron car for Mansfield, comes on the strength of three consecutive top-five finishes at Rockingham (3rd), Toledo (5th) and Pocono (5th).
The ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series will join the ARCA RE/MAX Series for the same-day double-header at Mansfield. Raceday features an action-packed day of activity with ARCA Truck practice from 1:30 to 2:30 followed by RE/MAX Series practice from 2:30 to 4:00. Qualifying for the Trucks is at 4:15 followed by RE/MAX Series qualifying (Menard Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell) at 5:00. The fan-friendly affair also features an on-track autograph session from 6:00 to 6:45. Racing gets underway at 7:00 with the 50-lap ARCA Lincoln Welders 50 Truck Series event followed by the grand finale - the Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA RE/MAX 200 mile race, set for 8:30 PM.
ARCA Racing Network to Broadcast All Day at Mansfield The ARCA Racing Network will be covering all the on-track activity for both the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series and the ARCA RE/MAX Series from Mansfield. Listen and watch live streaming audio and video of practice, qualifying and both races at ARCAracing.com inside the ARCA Nation.
-credit: arca
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