LEBANON, Pa.: Sye Lynch had high expectations when he decided to embark on a full season traveling the country with Kubota High Limit Racing.
It wasn’t a stretch for Lynch to win Rookie of the Year honors, log some top-five finishes, and maybe even get a win or two. Lynch has shown speed in the past and has turned some heads along the way.
But the road can be unforgiving. It’s not just the stiff competition a driver faces running a national series … there are new tracks, being away from home, and dealing with random occurrences that can set a team back.
Lynch has experienced it all in his first 26 shows with High Limit. Most if has been misfortune and lows, but the Apollo, Pa., native was able to break the string during Tuesday’s Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway when he posted a third-place finish … his first top five of the season with the series.
“It’s definitely huge, for sure,” Lynch said after Tuesday’s A-Main at his home track. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck this year … a lot of things just out of our control. But, the team’s working hard, and I think they deserved this more than anything with all their hard work.
“We had a super, super consistent night fast car all night long at Lernerville. That’s exactly where this team should be, and again, we just had some things out of our control. I think we’ve shown that we can be fast whenever things are even and if there is no luck. Meaning, just keep it at zero.”
It’s easy to roll your eyes when drivers talk about luck. After all, it tends to even out, whether it’s picking up spots because other drivers crash, run out of fuel, etc. Pill draw is an ebb and flow of good and bad.
But Lynch isn’t exaggerating. There have been mechanical woes, such as the car shutting off at the beginning of a main event when he is starting in the front three rows. Blown tires, motor issues … the list keeps growing.
Then, there are the crashes that have occurred in front of Lynch. A mud clot breaking the X-brace in half on the frame, a nerf bar coming off a car and finding Lynch’s front end … it really is uncanny.
“Early in the year, if there was a wreck, it always seemed to happen in front of us,” Lynch said. “Any bad thing that could happen has happened to us. It’s insane, things I’ve never seen happen before.
“Everybody said there’s growing pains in your first year on a national tour, and I don’t know if that’s necessarily what our situation has been. I think we’ve had speed; it’s just keeping everything moving in the right direction.”
None of the season-long hiccups, missteps, or gremlins appeared Tuesday night at Lernerville. That speed Lynch talked about was on full display from the time he rolled out of the trailer until the finish.
It helped that it was Lynch’s home track. Familiar faces in the pit area, a track he knows well … it was no doubt a different feeling than he’s had throughout the entire year, and he made it count.
Lynch timed third in his flight and won his heat race to punch his ticket to the Dash. In the A-Main, he battled with eventual winner Carson Macedo, second-place finisher Tanner, and Kings Royal champion Anthony Macri before settling for third.
“I feel like I’ve been kind of caged up because of the issues, the gremlins that we’ve had, and haven’t had a chance to really express what this team is capable of doing,” Lynch said. “So, it’s tough whenever you’re point racing. It’s hard to focus on one night at a time.
“We’re taking great notes, but I think for me as a driver, I haven’t really had a chance to showcase how much I have grown. This team was, literally, formed one week before Vegas, and the strides that we’ve made in such a short amount of time are really good.
“I think it’s more just being meticulous in the future, and like I said, this team was literally formed one week before Vegas. I don’t know if people really see that or people take it for granted.
“You look at the success of the 49 (Brad Sweet) or some other teams, and there’s so many years of foundation there. So, I think we have great days ahead. I think we really haven’t peaked or even come close to it.”
There are some big races coming up on the schedule. Like so many other drivers, Lynch is focused on the Knoxville Nationals, so he made the decision to tune up for the August extravaganza this week.
As of this writing, he timed third in his flight on Saturday night. It’s a chance to continue what he started last Tuesday night and continue it when High Limit starts up on the West Coast August 15th.
The good news, Lynch will get his second look at Thunderbowl Raceway. He started eighth in the spring race before having mechanical issues, so there is a notebook. From there, he tackles two six-figure paydays at Silver Dollar Speedway and Skagit before heading across the country to Port Royal Speedway for the prestigious Tuscarora 50.
“We’ve had some unreal things that have happened to us, but I think the adversity is really showing that we’re pushing harder than a lot of people might see,” Lynch said. “So, I think good runs are on the horizon for us if we can get everything levelled out.
“I’m just super proud of this team for as much adversity as we’ve had and come through it. Road life is not easy by any extent, but to push through what we’ve pushed through and grown together, it’s something to be proud of.”