KALAMAZOO, Mich. — When the Must See Racing Sprint Series invades Kalamazoo Speedway next weekend, it will do so with the familiar face of Canadian driver Ryan Litt.
Litt will be making his first North American sprint car start in three seasons during the American Speed U.S. Nationals on May 27-28. He has been unable to cross the Canadian border due to COVID-19 restrictions and travel policies instated by the Canadian government.
For Litt, it is beyond exciting to get back behind the wheel of his winged pavement sprint car.
“When COVID-19 first hit, I wasn’t too worried about it because I thought it would be over pretty quick,” Litt explained. “I got the car ready during that time like I normally do. It got stretched out way longer than anybody anticipated. It didn’t really affect the U.S. too bad because you guys kept racing. Because we couldn’t cross the border, we were pretty much stuck at home. I haven’t even attended a race because everything was shut down up here. It’s been a pretty long wait to say the least. I downloaded FloRacing, DIRTVision and MAVTV to keep up with everything, but I haven’t been to a track since 2019.”
Despite the lengthy layoff, Litt is confident he can find success during the American Speed U.S. Nationals. He did compete in South Africa a few weeks before COVID-19 shut the world down and Kalamazoo Speedway is a track where he has often found victory lane in his career.
“Kalamazoo is a really small, fast, wide-open track where you’re always turning. You don’t have much of a chance to take a breath. It’s probably gonna feel super-fast for me getting back into it. It’s like riding a bike,” Litt said. “I’ve been driving sprint cars long enough to know what to expect after a few laps. I like the track. Generally, towards the end of the race, there is two grooves. I’m pumped. You always go to win, but if I could finish on the podium both nights, it would be a great start to the season.”
The second annual American Speed U.S. Nationals will also include the Maxima Racing Oils Midwest Lights Series, the Ohio Wheelman, National Compacts and the MCR Dwarf Cars.
Litt concluded, “I have life-long friends in the racing community I haven’t even got to see the past three years. It’s gonna be fun to get back and see all my buddies again. I haven’t even got to smell methanol in a few years, so I’m looking forward to that maybe the most.”
The live broadcast will be the “SPEED SPORT Spotlight Event” for the week, and available free for SPEEDSPORT.tv subscribers.
Keyword: Ryan Litt To Make First MSR Start Since 2019