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Bandolero Nationals went right.

They still turned left for the race but things finally started to go right for Kyle Donahue in the Kentucky Bandolero Nationals feature. Kyle started the day on Friday with the best of hopes to dominate in the Nationals but that feeling didn’t last long. During practice, Kyle was having motor issues and continued to have problems until the last few minutes before qualify on Saturday. After chasing every potential problem it turned out to be the kill wire shorting out on the motor case. With absolutely no quality practice, Kyle still managed to take the 5th fastest time in qualify out of 27 drivers.

The drama continued for Kyle in the first heat race. He was cut off going into turn 3 and again coming out of turn 4 and ending up trading paint with the offender and the pit road wall. (I don’t like to publically criticize but for the parents/drivers that fold in the mirrors as a good thing… Please stop. If you open up a hole by going wide and cannot see if someone took the spot because you have no mirrors, then what do you think is going to happen next?)

The second heat race didn’t go much better as Kyle made contact with the wall while trying to avoid a major accident. Kyle gathered himself, put things in perspective and drove to the grid with nothing short of a great attitude to start the feature. He was starting deep in the field with a 16th place spot but he knew what he had to do. With 15 cars a head of him and 11 behind, and everyone trying to win, he had a plan. Kyle decided to be extra cautious and use the anxiousness of others to his advantage. Knowing that most of the drivers would be less than focused on being smooth and consistent he was going to use that to his advantage and drive to the front.

His plan worked, he finished with a fourth place spot, and didn’t touch a single car in the process. Congrats Kyle, great job.

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