LOCAL DRIVER MCQUILLEN TO TAKE ON 500 TOUR AT LORAIN
LOCAL DRIVER MCQUILLEN TO TAKE ON 500 TOUR AT LORAIN
September 7, 2023 – Todd Mcquillen may not be a household name in 500 Sprint Car Tour circles, but hat could change after Saturday night’s inaugural appearance at Lorain Raceway Park. The Mansfield, Ohio resident is one of only two Ohio entrants in Saturday’s event.
McQuillen doesn’t have a lot of laps in a non-winged pavement sprint car. But what he does have is a lot of laps at Lorain Raceway Park. In fact, he and Bobby Santos III are the only two drivers entered in Saturday’s event who competed at the last non-winged event at LRP in 2017.
The 50-year-old veteran is coming off one of the better races of his career. He finished fifth in the August 19 Bob Frey Classic winged sprint car event. Fifth may not seem too impressive, but when you factor in that he finished ahead of Bobby Santos III, Tyler Roahrig, and fast qualifier Craig Mentz, who were all on the lead lap, that’s a pretty good night.
As Mcquillen prepares for his first 500 Sprint Car Tour event, he is confident his many laps at LRP will come into play. “Me and my car owner Dave Koyan talked about it last fall. We were wanting to do some non-winged stuff. It’s easier on the motor and you don’t need as big a motor to compete. Then when I saw the schedule, and saw where they were coming to Lorain, I asked Dave if he wanted to try it”.
“I talked to Bobby Santos about the series. I asked him how I would do. He told me with the time I have on the track, I would be better than most. He told me I already know the track and that’s ninety percent of it. We decided at that point we’d try it. Santos gave me some suggestions on things to try”.
Having already outrun two of the biggest stars of the 500 Sprint Car Tout just three weeks ago, Mcquillen appeared humbled by the experience and credits a strong run to laps at the track. “I have alot of laps there and it helped starting up front. After the race everybody told me Tyler (Roahrig) was three spots back and I was three cars away from lapping the fast qualifier. I went up to Bobby after the race and said, ‘my boy says you were right behind me. He shook his head and said ‘no I wasn’t even close. I didn’t have anything for you’. So, I guess I did halfway decent” laughed Mcquillen.
Mcquillen is confident he can run up front Saturday night. Dave (Koyan) said we could run in the top ten. I told him no, I’m shooting for a top five” concluded Mcquillen.
