7/9/2015
Katlynn Leer
ARCA Truck Series: The Life Of A Teenage Girl Is One Thing; The Life Of A Teenage Race Car Driving Girl Is Quite Another Story!
Millersport, Ohio (July 9th, 2015) — The ARCA Truck Series may have found the busiest people in our sport! Holley Performance Rookie of the Year candidate Katlynn Leer always seems to be on the go! Whether it is midgets, softball, school or the ARCA Truck Series, whenever you try to get a hold of her, her and her family seem to be watching the white lines flash by!
The latest inquiry found Katlynn and her team on the road again! So, are we bothering you? “Oh no you’re not,” laughs the 16-year-old! “I’m driving five and a half hours home because I have regionals for softball tomorrow morning!”FB_IMG_1436458785967
And yes. They just finished up at a track! “I raced the Pepsi Nationals in the midget in Wisconsin. Qualified 18th and got fifth in the heat race, which put me straight in the A main. Went from 19th to 14th and then the motor let out white smoke and then there was a red flag so I could see what was going on but I had no oil pressure and the temp was too hot and I had to pull in.”
And then this weekend, it’s back in the hauler for the nine and a half hour trip back to Columbus for the Penn Grade 1 100 lapper in her #77 Chevy V8…which they also did last month only to see it rain out and rescheduled. Which means turn back around and go home! But no one on her team is complaining at all!
“We just love it so much! If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be doing it!” And speaking of “loving it”, Katlynn and her dad and truck/car owner are beginning to figure this paved racing thing out!
“Asphalt is so much fun and it’s a ‘sit back and wait’ game,” explained the high school student. “I love asphalt! The biggest difference is the driving style. It’s so hard going from asphalt to dirt but much easier going from dirt to asphalt, all though I’m sure asphalt racers would say different!” in truck newSo whose idea was it to step forward and begin racing on paved circuits? “It was both my dad’s and my idea. I want to get somewhere and make a career out of racing. So we had to step up!” And the learning curve continues as Leer has three top tens already this young season, with a seventh her best in the last ARCA truck Series race at Motordrome June 12th! “ARCA Trucks don’t really compare to my dirt stuff. They’re opposites in every aspect you can think of. It’s a totally different transition!”
The conscientious young lady always mentions those who have helped her get to where she’s at in this point in her storied career! FB_IMG_1436458838859“I want to thank my friends for supporting me and my dad, Joe, and my dad’s sister my Aunt Mary…she’s my best friend and racing buddy, my grandma Robin, my sisters Kendra and Kaderenna and my mom Leelynn for backing me all the way! And my sponsors A&A Underground and Stajcar Farms! I don’t know where I’d be without all of them!”
And while Katlynn leads in the Holley Performance by four over Brian Brewer in the standings, she still has time for other activities! Oh and, speaking of…that softball game we mentioned that our short stop had to get back in such a hurry for? “We won 9 to 7! Hit two doubles and got on base three times! Now we advance to round two!”
Guess she’s saving the “home runs” for on the track!
The ARCA Truck Series completed its fifth full season presented by the Phoenix Management Group of Ohio, LLC, (or PMG) of Millersport, Ohio in 2014, under a licensing agreement with the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA).
The ARCA Truck Series (ATS) ran exhibition races late in 1998 with the first full season in 1999. Today, the series has grown into one of the most versatile in short track racing, having taken popular four cylinder, V-6 & V-8 sealed crate engine powered trucks to asphalt tracks of many sizes under one mile, road courses, and numerous dirt tracks in its history.
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading and most diverse auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year.
Following the ARCA Truck Series has become easier than ever lately! For in-depth stories, continually log on to ARCATruckRacing.com. You can now also follow the series on Twitter at @ARCATruckRacing, there is an “ARCA Truck Series” Facebook page, “ARCA Truck Series” on YouTube and “ARCA Truck Racing” is on LinkedIn.
For more information please contact:
Kevin Schwarze
Official Statistician/Media Coordinator
kschwarze@arcatruckracing.com
or
Robbin Slaughter, Operations Manager
rslaughter@arcatruckracing.com
