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Displaced sway bar does in East

In a surprising upset, Brian Tyler walked away with a grin and a win at the USAC Silver Crown James River Grounds 100 (75 miles) at the Richmond International Raceway.  Having pursued Bobby East for 79 laps, Tyler’s break came when East’s sway bar came off, bringing out a caution and bunching the field.

Tyler was not aware of East’s equipment failure, possibly due to the fact that East had developed a significant lead. However, Tyler took advantage of the break to close the distance along with the rest of the field.  Seeing his opportunity when the green flag reemerged at lap 86, Tyler broke out topside to get past East, managing to slip back in front of him and gain distance. 

Despite losing some control of his car with the sway bar missing, East held on to second position to finish in front of Cameron Dodson who was not in a position to challenge further because he had “no tires at the end,” according to Dodson.

For Tyler, the yellow flag was the break he was looking for. “I knew when that caution came out with just a few laps to go; I was going to have to get him on the restart,“ he said. “Without that caution I don’t know that I could have caught Bobby or anything.  I probably would have run second.  But once we had that caution, I knew if I could get in front of him, I probably could hold him off.“

Having the pack bunched opened opportunity. “It’s easier to pass somebody when they’re all bundled up than it is to run ‘em down and pass them,“ Tyler said. “So, on that restart I knew I probably only had a one-shot deal and I better make her work; and it paid off.  I just made a Bonsai run to the outside and it basically took both of us into the corner deeper than we wanted to go; but as he was sliding up the hill, my car was cutting to the left good, and it gave me the opportunity to get under him down the back-shoot.“

Tyler said he knew something was wrong with East’s car but unsure what the problem was until after the race ended. “I was just close enough to him that I could see some sparks and they were clear out by the right rear,“ Tyler said. “I thought to myself, ‘Boy, that’s an awful weird place to see sparks off a race car.’  And then the caution came out, and I didn’t know he’d lost his sway bar until the race was over.  The way he runs his car, that swaybar is a big important part of that suspension.  I don’t run those swaybars.  I’m old school and he’s new school, so it worked out for the better.“

With 52-year-old Chet Fillip winning last year and 40-year-old Tyler winning this year, Tyler challenged the idea that racing is for the young. “These cars here, the young haven’t quite figured out how to run ‘em yet for this long,“ he said. “So, you know a lot of them do; and a lot of them do good jobs.  We’ve been around so long, we kinda know when to go and when to whoa.  Everybody says it’s a young man’s sport, but I don’t believe that.“