LEBANON, Pa.: It hasn’t exactly been a fun season for Dylan Cisney. Performance hasn’t been what he expected, and there was some uncertainty floating around the team throughout the second half of the year.
That’s made it hard to post good results in competitive central Pennsylvania. And by the time the checkered flag dropped on the Tuscarora 50 in early September, Cisney found himself looking for another seat moving forward.
Uncertainty breeds anxiousness and a sense of urgency, but not for Cisney. It took him less than 10 days to get, possibly, the best opportunity of his 410 Sprint Car career.
Cisney will pilot the Bill Rose Racing machine, and it isn’t just a weekend deal. The Port Royal, Pa., driver will be running the familiar No. 6 for the remaining races on this season’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series schedule.
“It started with a phone call to Bill, pretty much,” Cisney said. “I knew our year was done after the Tuscarora 50, so I started to look for other options to stay in something the rest of the season.
“Unfortunately, Bill’s been hurt for the last couple of months from a crash and had a couple of different drivers in there to fill the seat. We just worked something out for me to jump in starting this week in Ohio, and we will finish the rest of the World of Outlaws season.”
Continued Cisney, “It should be a nice little run to keep me out there in a car. I’m looking forward to working with Bill. He’s a low-buck guy who does it on his own, so I can relate to him. I just hope I can go out and help this program a little bit, and it keeps me out there on the road racing in front of everybody. Hopefully, we put a good run or two together along the way.”
Relevance is key.
It’s easy to get lost in the Sprint Car shuffle, especially in the closing stages of a season. A driver is out of a ride, and if he, or she, sits on the sidelines too long, they get forgotten.
Cisney is aware of the business, but this isn’t just about staying front and center. The 32-year-old driver gets an opportunity to learn more from a driver and mechanical standpoint while also having a chance to showcase his ability.
“I’m really excited about it,” Cisney said. “Since I was a kid, to get better, you have to race against the best competition there is. I’m looking forward to running a World of Outlaws schedule the next month and a half and getting to run new places I’ve never seen and a couple I have experience with.
“It should be a fun little stretch, which is the most important part. Bill’s been doing it a long time, so hopefully, we can learn some things from each other. You never know what you are going to learn together.”
This also gives Cisney a chance to be in different surroundings … to get out of his comfort zone. He’s spent his career competing at Port Royal Speedway and around central Pennsylvania, so this will be a big change.
But it’s also the situation itself. Cisney has been running his family deal, picking and choosing the equipment. Now, he is going to get a chance to experience different chassis, motors, and parts.
The good news for Cisney is that Rose has been around for a while and has plenty of experience on the road. It also helps that there is no pressure to win the first night, and Cisney can ease into this at his own pace.
“I think the nice part with this is that Bill is a pretty low-pressure guy,” said Cisney, who is also looking to bring some marketing partners to the team for the 12-race stretch. “He’s enjoying Sprint Car racing, which is the goal that we forget about a lot of the time. I think the goal is to not have a goal.
“Tomorrow, we will get acclimated at Wayne County and get the interior stuff figured out and get the seat adjusted to where I feel comfortable the first night. Saturday, we go to a place in Sharon that I really like and usually comes into my wheelhouse by the end of the night.
“So, I have no expectations. I hope that we can get the car comfortable to start the weekend and just do the best we can. If you had to put a goal on it, I would say getting into shows and getting top 10s. When you go to an Outlaws race, you want to be a top-10 guy.”
The deal with Rose is draped in both relief and anticipation. Cisney plans to make the most of his opportunity, as well as compete at tracks like Route 66 and Riverside International Speedway, two facilities he’s never seen before.
As for the 2025 season, Cisney is still in wait-and-see mode. He’s received a couple of offers, but he isn’t about to rush into anything. Instead, the veteran driver wants to make sure he is putting himself in the best position for success.
“At this point, I have nothing set in stone for next year,” Cisney said. “There are a couple of options out there that have been presented to me. I’m just not sure what direction I’m looking to go moving forward.
“My personal goal is to get in a car or situation that allows me to run as much as possible in good equipment. That’s kind of a deciding factor with some of the options that have been presented to me.”