Riot Racing moves into first in BITD series after taking fifth in Vegas to Reno
A fifth place finish at the TSCO Vegas to Reno race has put Riot Racing first in the Best in the Desert points series. The team is thrilled to be in this position, but they know that with this year’s format which allows for a dropped race, the championship is still up for grabs by any number of teams.
“First in points is a positive thing,” Sammy Zaranti, the lead mechanic said. “But it all boils down to the last race at the end of the season. You have to treat each race separately and go for the goal and wherever the points lay the points lay.”
As the team gears up for their next race, the SCORE Primm 300, Riot is still excited about the fifth place finish in their class, seventh overall, at Vegas to Reno on August 20.
“Fifth is pretty darn good and points wise it puts us in an awesome spot for the year,” #68’s driver, Marc Ewing, said, after starting the truck 27th overall in Beatty. While he is proud of the finish, Ewing can’t help but want to excel further.
“You’re psyched, but it’s not on the podium so I get amped up to do even better,” he said.
Everyone was very pleased with the truck’s stellar performance, which took many arduous weeks to achieve after completely rebuilding it.
“The truck was phenomenal,” Zaranti said. “Marc did a great job driving, and Josh (Daniel) did a great job.”
Daniel and Allen Hickerson of DanZio Racing finished the last half of the race for Ewing and co-driver Ira Conn.
“We did a real good job,” Daniel said. “Sammy prepped that truck really well. (It) ran ballin’.”
Ewing and the team were very happy with Daniel’s performance.
“Josh took care of the truck, and he’s an aggressive, fast driver for sure,” Ewing said. “Josh is a great addition to the team,” Conn added.
Allen Hickerson, Daniel’s co-driver was happy to be able to take over after Ewing and Conn set a decent pace throughout the first half of the race.
“Marc and Ira did a great job getting settled in. You got to get into a good groove. By the time we got in, a lot of the field… was spread out so we didn’t have to deal with as much dust,” Hickerson said.
With it being his first time co-driving in a trophy truck, Hickerson was impressed and happy to cross the finish line in Dayton for Riot.
“Every time you cross that finish line it’s a great feeling. It makes it even better when you place in a decent position. Thanks to Marc, Ira and the pit crew for doing a good job. There’s no way that truck could have done what it did without a team effort,” Hickerson said.
As time goes by, the Riot team is learning the ins and outs of the race vehicles and how to work together as a team. “The team really meshed together. The first pit stop was a little slow, but then we got momentum,” Zaranti said.
Ewing has confidence in his crew. “We’ve got an awesome team now and both trucks are in great shape,” he said.
He and the team are looking forward to taking on the challenge of racing at the Primm 300 on September 11. With the race taking place in Riot’s backyard, the team is hoping to do well.
Follow Riot Racing as they prepare for this exciting event on http://www.riotracing.com and http://www.twitter.com/riotracing. Fans can watch Riot Racing’s teaser video for the Vegas to Reno race at http://riotracing.com/videos/view/bitd_vegas_to_reno_2010_teaser-_riot_racing/. A full-length video recap by VitaBrevisFilms will be released on Riot’s Web site soon.
- Tuesday August 31, 2010
- By Riot Racing
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