PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – Kyle O’Gara is the latest driver to throw his name into the mix for the Dave Steele World Non-Wing Sprint Car Championship 125 at Showtime Speedway in Pinellas Park, Fla., on Feb. 20
The 25-year-old Beech Grove, Ind., driver will be making his first sprint car start in the state of Florida.
O’Gara, who also competes regularly in dirt midget competition, explained his reasons for wanting to compete in the event.
“The sprint car is our favorite car to get out of the stable, its been a while since I’ve been on the pavement, and I wanna get out of the house to warmer weather,” O’Gara said. “It’s for a good cause really, we were good friends with Dave Steele and his family. We were teammates at RWB Motorsports in 2013 and I got to know him pretty well.”
“When the race was first announced last fall, O’Gara knew he wanted to be a part of it.
When we found out they were putting this race on we put it on our schedule,” O’Gara said.
The experience he has gained the past two seasons has led to confidence that he can bring home a good showing. The young driver came of age in his first full season of asphalt sprint car competition in 2019. He nearly won an Auto Value Super Sprint event at Kalamazoo, Mich., this past June 14.
O’Gara led most of the event and appeared as if a victory would be in the cards. He got tied up with a lapped car with two laps remaining and Aaron Pierce squeaked by for the win while the duo battled in traffic. O’Gara opened a lot of eyes that day and proved that he would be a forced to be reckoned with in future asphalt sprint car races from there on out.
O’Gara will be driving for a team owned by his brother and sister-in-law Sarah Fisher of IndyCar fame. The Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development team currently fields cars in USAC Midget and Silver Crown competition, as well as select non-winged pavement events, that includes the annual Little 500.
The team has one goal entering next week’s race and O’Gara was quick to explain that goal.
“We’re going down to win. We put a lot of effort into the car this offseason. We’ve taken our game to the next level and we hope it shows starting next weekend,” O’Gara said.
The inaugural Dave Steele World Non-Wing Sprint Car Championship 125 will kick off with a 30-lap tune-up race the night before on Feb. 19. The following afternoon between 2:30-4 p.m., a qualifying session similar to that used at the annual Little 500 will be used to set the line-up for the possible 26-car starting field for the 125-lap event. During the qualifying session, teams will make a four-lap qualifying attempt and their four-lap average will determine their starting position in that evenings event.
Both days of the event will be streamed live via SPEED SPORT Network partner Low Budget TV. Click here for pay-per-view and Low Budget TV subscription options.