Ryan Krachun Looking to Carry 2020 Fall Success Right into 2021

Ryan Krachun’s plans changed dramatically during the 2020 season due to Covid-19 just like many other race teams.  Ryan had to scrap the plan to race at the legendary Orange County Fairgrounds Speedway due to New York State Restrictions which took Ryan back to his old home track of New Egypt for weekly racing while he continued with the Short Track Super Series South and adding local specials at Bridgeport, Grandview and Big Diamond whenever possible.  But despite all the delays and changes in plans during the 2020 season by late August the 29 team got their setup dialed in and had a consistent top 5 race car with speed right to the end of the 2020 season.  The 2021 plan is to pick up right where they were at the end of 2020, and go win some more races.

With a family history of racing Ryan grew up at the track watching his dad race at New Egypt from 2004 to 2007 in sportsman and moving to modified in 2008.  “I grew up hanging out with Brandon Grosso watching my dad race.  I started racing quarter midgets when I was 7 years old and raced at Atco, Blackbird and Wall Stadium until I moved to the ¼ midget national tour in 2011.  By 2012 I continued my traveling with the USAC Ignite Midget Series racing at Hickory Speedway, Ace Speedway and other asphalt tracks in North Carolina and Illinois” Ryan recalled.

Ryan continued “2014 was a very busy year as I continued racing on asphalt tracks but in 2014 switched to the NEMA Lites Winged Midget series which took us to tracks in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and even Oswego, NY.  We were running an underpowered stock sealed Ford Focus 4 cylinder but we still won the 2014 NEMA points championship and the NEMA Lites Winged Midget rookie of the year.  I also ran the PASS Late Model Pro Series and we had great success at Hickory Speedway with a quick qualifier, pole position, 3 wins and a second in 4 visits that year.  From 2012 to 2014 I had the privileged to race against the likes of Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Jared Iran, Tyler Ankrum, Carson Hocevar, Chandler Smith, Cayden Lapcevich and Davey Hamilton who are now in the Indy car series, NASCAR truck series, NASCAR Infinity series or NASCAR Canadian series.

“I also hit the dirt in 2014 for the first time in a speedster at Action Track on Wednesday nights.  In 2015 I went straight into the dirt modified division and it created a bit of controversy from the haters that I skipped a year in the Crate division before going to modified.  We were a DNQ at our first modified race and finished 24^th at our second race but then won our 3rd modified race at New Egypt as a rookie.  In addition I got to finish the season off with a trip to the last race at Syracuse and drove the Roger Mahan #29 small block and qualified for the last race at the Syracuse Mile” Ryan recalled.

In 2016 Ryan went completely dirt racing at New Egypt Speedway competing in the brand new “Northeast Wingless Sprint Car” division and the modified division.  In 2017 Ryan ran weekly modified both New Egypt and Big Diamond with a 6^th and 7^th finish in the points standings respectively.  In 2018 Ryan had another double top ten year with a 4^th at Big Diamond and a 7^th at New Egypt in season points. 

In 2019 Ryan turned his to the Short Track Super Series South tour and the season produced a 14^th in the STSS points with 93 competitors in the final point standings.   In the weekly racing at New Egypt Ryan landed a 5^th place points finish.

Ryan stated “2020 was supposed to be our first year of weekly racing at Orange County Fairgrounds Speedway but Covid-19 essential closing New York racing down changed all that.  We went home to New Egypt and essentially ran an outlaw schedule racing here there and everywhere – BAPS, Grandview, Georgetown, Delaware International, New Egypt, Big Diamond and Bridgeport.  We were in the chase for the weekly points championship at New Egypt until the final race and got our best New Egypt points finish ever with a 3^rd place in the final points.  We were struggling in July and early August but late in August we found speed and from there on out we were just “looking for an edge” to fine tune our speed each week.    We nailed it in qualifying at the Danny Serrano Memorial in late September and qualified # 1 out of 56 entries and won the cash dash and sat on the pole position in the Danny Serrano Memorial.  From there we had a 4^th with the small block at Big Diamond Nationals on Friday night and then a 2^nd with the open motor on Saturday.  A couple of weeks later we went to Delaware International and won the Small Block Modified division at the Delaware State Championships.”

Ryan noted “It was a shame to see 2020 come to an end as we had consistent speed for the last two months and thanks to the guys at Teo, Bicknell & Dig race shocks I have learned a lot that will help us into 2021 as we continue to look for an edge and fine tune the speed we found in 2020.  My goal is to be consistently fast in 2021 no matter where we go or with what car we take. Last year we attended 44 events and plan to attend 84 events in 2021.  Weekly we will be running Friday nights at Big Diamond and Saturday nights at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.  In addition we plan on running all the Short Track Super Series South, Bridgeport, Grandview and New Egypt specials and the World Finals in Charlotte, NC.”

Ryan added “I would like to thank all our sponsors and fans whose support make our success and 2021 plans possible.  I would also like to thank Cody Hager whose tireless efforts gets us to the track week in and week out.  And lastly I am just so grateful to my mom and dad and would like to thank them for making my racing dreams come true for the past 15 years.”

With some more time on his hands in 2021 to focus on fine tuning and keeping the edge sharp; it is clear Ryan Krachun is poised to pick-up right where he left off in 2020 and ready to move to the next level in 2021 and make some trips back to victory lane during the 2021 season.