LEBANON, Pa.: Dylan Cisney was used to running between 45 and 55 races during a Sprint Car season. This year, it’s been three in the 410 division and a few more in a 360.
It wasn’t what Cisney envisioned when car-owner Scott Cowman decided to go a different direction late last season, which left the Port Royal native without a seat. Cisney thought he would be able to land something, anything, to get his facing fix.
But this is a tough sport, and rides aren’t plentiful, especially when you don’t have a bag of money or resources to bring to the seat. So, Cisney started the process of putting his own team together for select races at the end of this season and moving forward.
The plan was to debut at this weekend’s Living Legends Dream Race at Port Royal. Instead, he got the call to fill in for Robbie Kendall in the Smith-Stewart Racing entry for Saturday’s event and all of the Fair Week races.
“It feels pretty good to get back in a car,” Cisney said in a phone interview with SprintCarUnlimited.com. “I ran a couple of 360 races here for a couple of different people recently just to keep a couple of laps under me and stay out there. So, you know, that kind of worked out.
“It just feels good to get here, especially for the big races. The Dream is a race we’ve won before, so, it’s going to be good to get back to there and then Fair Week is pretty important to me. So, I’m glad that I’m going to have the opportunity to get out there and race.”
Kendall has been the regular driver for the team, but his wife is having their third child, and he wanted to spend some time with his family. That opened the door for Cisney to get back in the cockpit of a 410 Sprint Car while also taking more time to get his car ready.
In fact, Kendall suggested Cisney. The 33-year-old driver knows Port Royal well, and it didn’t take long for crew chief Darin Mellott and Stewart-Smith to agree.
“Honestly, it was Robbie’s idea,” Mellott said. “He knew that there were some big races coming up at Port Royal, and Dylan’s been really good there in the past. There have, obviously, been a lot of moving parts in the driver world the last several weeks, but there’s not a whole lot of people out there Dylan’s caliber, either.
“Obviously, he’s got a ton of laps around Port Royal and is really familiar with that surface, which is one of the trickiest places in the country, at times. So, his familiarity with the track conditions and just the curveballs that place can throw you … I think he will be very helpful. Plus, Stewart has X-1 Racecars, and Dylan’s run them and likes the frames.”
Continued Mellott, “So, it seems like a good fit. I talked to Dylan on the phone for about two hours last night. We got everything we talked about, and it’s kind of in line with what we’ve been doing, and we are on the same page.”
There is no taking anybody’s ride, here. Both Cisney and Stewart-Smith Racing have made it clear that Kendall is the driver of the car when he comes back, whether it’s later this season or next year.
As for the number of races they will run together, that depends on Kendall and how things mesh with Cisney. In the meantime, Cisney plans to continue to work on his car for the 2026 campaign.
“They’re not really a full-time deal, so we will race as much as they want to race,” Cisney said. “It kind of works out for me, right now. Ironically, I’ve been working on my own team all summer, and I was just at the point where I was going to bring my personal car out for the Dream Race this weekend. This works out a little easier on me than showing up by myself and doing my own deal.
“We will see how it goes. I’m not really auditioning at this point. I think it is what it is. I know I can get the job done myself. So, whether people see that or there are other opportunities on the horizon, it’s irrelevant to me. I’m going to show up and try to win a race on Saturday and every night that I’m in the car. If nothing else, I’m working toward having my own team and planning on that for next year.”