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Ryan Kissinger Carving His Niche as a Sprint Car Driver

Sprint cars are perhaps one of the most demanding classes in racing. Take a look at some of big name stars over the years and their backgrounds all stem from the sprints. Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, Jeff Gordon, Ken Schrader, Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne to name a few.

Although there are some outstanding sprint car drivers across the country, here in eastern Pennsylvania boast some of the best in the business.

Ryan Kissinger may not be one of those just yet but the 18-year old from Bloomsburg is aspiring to head in that direction.

Kissinger, who is a senior at Central Columbia High School, is now in his second season of sprint car competition. He races weekly at Selinsgrove Speedway in the highly touted 358 sprint class.

Last year he split the year between Clinton County Raceway, where he finished tenth in points and Selinsgrove.

“When we bought our car we got it with everything complete. The engine that was in it we couldn’t run at Selinsgrove so we ran Clinton County for the first half of last season,” said Kissinger.

“After we picked up a newer motor midway through the year is when we switched to racing at Selinsgrove. Personally I’d rather race at Selinsgrove. It’s a lot faster and there’s more room to race. I feel I could learn more there too because there’s a lot of good drivers.”

Through his cousin, Johnny Roberts, Kissinger got started in go-kart racing when he was in sixth grade. He did the karts for four years and then bumped up to a 270cc micro sprint where he logged two seasons. Kissinger was on the verge of getting a 600cc micro but a better deal came along for a sprint car and thus his career is now continuing down that road.

His transition from the micro to a full sprint car was quite smooth too as his very first feature race he netted a respectable fifth.

“Racing the micro’s definitely helped when it came time for me to run the sprinter. With a micro the tracks we ran on weren’t that big and Clinton County was that way,” he said.

“I actually felt I could relax more in the car because you can concentrate more on driving then you can with anything else.”

Although Clinton County is where he got his first laps with the sprinter, Kissinger’s focus had always been to race Selinsgrove.

“I really like Selinsgrove. It was really neat to go down the straight-away and see all those people in the grandstands. It’s a fast track too and the feeling of speed was really cool.

“We have a new car for this year and I can tell that each week I’m getting braver. I’m learning more about the car and I’m getting faster each week. Every week you try to learn something new and try to get better and better.”

Better indeed. He recently scored his very first checkered flag, that coming in a heat race.

“That was a good feeling. It made the bad runs we’ve had not even matter. Things like that help boost your confidence as well,” said Kissinger.

His grandfather, Wally Wynn, is the car owner. Wynn drove stock cars years ago at Selinsgrove. He’d always had a desire to race in a sprinter but it never materialized. He’s now enjoying his role as an owner and watching his grandson fulfill part of that aspiration he had.

“Even though he’s my grandpa it’s still amazing that he would spend this much money and help me out as much as he could. I’m very appreciative of that.”

His father, Raynard Kissinger, helps out on the team as well.

Kissinger also noted that popular father and son racing dual, Randy and Duane Mausteller of Bloomsburg, have been extremely helpful.

“I’ve talked with them (Mausteller’s) a lot and they’ve helped me out a lot. Randy had always sponsored me when I was racing the micro and I would also go to the races with them when I was younger.

“I always said how I’d love to race against them and this year it’s actually happening. They’ve been mentors to me.”

Selinsgrove ace Mike Walter is another who has lent his expertise to the upstart.

It’s a long road to stardom but Kissinger is willing to put in his time. Each week he races he knows that his experience level will heighten as he gathers more understanding for sprint cars.

“I just want to be consistent and qualify for each race. I’d like to win a race but at this point my main goal is just to qualify and then finish races and learn as much as I can,” he said.

“I think if we learn more about the car and get it working right then there’s even a possibility we could maybe pull off a win.”

He also has an optimistic outlook of where the sport can take him.

“Winning races somewhere. I’d love to eventually be running with the (World of) Outlaws or maybe USAC.

“To be able to win a race at Selinsgrove would be awesome. If I could win one race there I’d feel as though I accomplished something in racing.”

Justin Grosz Set to Join ARDC Midgets

Northeast Pennsylvania and the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) have always had strong ties. Zach Martini of Hazleton. Bloomsburg drivers as Ray Bull, Randy Mausteller and Johnny and Eric Heydenreich. There's Shane Penny of Nescopeck to name a few.

This year another northeast PA racer will be added to the roster of the time honored midget racing club as 15-year old Justin Grosz of Hawley is coming onboard.

Grosz, like many others in recent years who have moved into ARDC, is doing so after racing the past few seasons with micro sprints.

His decision to join ARDC is partly due after a visit to Chip Ganassi’s racing shop in Mooresville, NC. He was attending a racing seminar and looking for direction to the next path for his career.

“I had gone to a developmental seminar about two—three years ago were there were a lot of top guys in NASCAR attending and they advised me I needed to get out of winged racing. So that led us into looking at ARDC. We liked what we saw and are now headed in that direction,” said Grosz, who is an honor student at Wallenpaupack Area High School and will be inducted into the National Honor Society this coming week.

“We went there looking to see were our next step was. We were ready to move out of the micros and we wanted to see which angle would be best for us. They encouraged me to run on dirt more because if I was going to run a midget then I would get more control with the car.”

Even though he’s only 15, Grosz is no rookie racer. He was a top notch go-karter prior to running a micro. He hit all the local karting tracks as well venturing out to the national scene on both dirt and asphalt surfaces with dirt being more of his preference.

“The thing that made me love dirt (racing) the most is when we went down to Daytona to run the Dirt World Karting Championships and came very close to winning. We finished second. There were over 75 cars in my class and only 26 made the main event,” said Grosz.

“Running the micros was a great experience too. I didn’t understand a lot of the concept with the go-karts but once I was in the micros I had to learn all of the different aspects and I learned from a lot of great guys too which helped me progress.”

It wasn’t until last season that Grosz and his dad, John, saw their first ARDC race. After checking out how good the racing was they were convinced that would be the best route to head in.

“We didn’t know much about ARDC at first but once they told us about the wingless stuff then we took a more serious look at them. It wasn’t USAC but after watching one of their races last year at Susquehanna (Raceway) it seemed to be a very good organization to be a part of,” said Grosz.

“I went back and checked out some of the old records with the club and saw that guys like (Mario) Andretti and a whole bunch of big names that use to run with them. I could see there was a lot of tradition there.”

Going from a micro sprint and into a midget should go well also. Every ARDC champion over the past ten years has come from micro sprints. Many more our competing within the club.

“I’ve seen a lot of guys make a nice transition from the micros and into the ARDC midgets and I feel that we’re going to have a pretty good car under us and should make that same type of transition,” noted Grosz. “I’m going to try and do the best of my ability and I’m not going to come in there and make a bad impression on myself. We just want to get use to the car. We plan to test in a couple weeks. Our game plan is to learn as much as possible and look ahead to USAC.”

His first meet with ARDC will be on July 11 at Accord Speedway in New York. The wait is due to his age. He’ll have turned 16 by then which is the requirement to race with the club. In the meantime he’ll be attending as many ARDC shows as he can. He did report to the pre-season rules meeting held at Lobitz Catering in Hazleton earlier this month. He is looking to pick up a micro or even go-kart ride to stay sharp until his debut.

With a few weeks between his first and second race with ARDC, Grosz will look to fill the time by heading out to Indiana for the USAC Midget Speed Week. He also plans to go to Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway for the Four Crown Nationals. If the funds allow there may be a possibility of racing in the prestigious Hut Hundred at Terre Haute Speedway as well.

“We know we have to travel in order to get noticed,” said Grosz.

ARDC is a wise choice. The young talent has shown he has the skill and potential to continue on a career path in motor racing and ARDC will indeed be a great schooling for him to learn with.