8 Questions with Tyler Roahrig
500 Sprint Car Tour Media sat down with Tyler Roahrig heading into the 2025 season. Roahrig was the 2023 Tour Champion and all time wins leader with 11 races won.
Q: If you could do any race over again, which race would you choose?
I would choose the 2016 Kalamazoo Klash. In 2016 I had won all of the big (outlaw late model) races leading up to the Kalamazoo Klash. At the time it was my bucket list race to win. I had not won it yet but I really wanted to win it. I had finished second twice to Terry Senneker in previous years. Going into the race I was pretty positive it was going to be a heads up battle between Terry and I. Sure enough he qualified 1st and I qualified second. He got the lead first but I got around him on a restart with 30 laps. I was leading the race and then during that run a piece of the exhaust broke. I still held the lead but then a yellow flag came out with 15 laps to go. The car didn't take off really well because of the broken exhaust. It let Terry get a nose ahead of me and he went on to win the race. That was a major heartbreaker for me.
Tyler would go on to win his first Kalamazoo Klash in 2017. He has since won 4 Klash’s.
Q: Some drivers keep a payback list in their minds. Do you also have a list for drivers who have done you a favor on the track?
I wouldn't necessarily say i have a payback list, but i do know how certain people have raced me. I will race them back accordingly whether that be good or bad. The start at the Little 500 a lot of times i will let Kody (Swanson) lead and i will just run second. We both seem to be content with protecting ourselves at least for the first run.
I try to keep in mind especially in the (Little) 500, if someone is coming pretty fast on new tires and you let them go. You would hope you would get the same respect if the roles are reversed. I know last year I was a lap down at the end of the race and i didnt want to be up in the mix of the leaders so I just kind of let them go.
Q: How often do you think about racing?
Pretty much every second of the day, that i am awake. Sometimes it is even in my dreams and or nightmares. Yeah being that it is my job and something i enjoy doing, it is pretty much always on my mind.
Q: What is a food you would not recommend eating right before a race and are you speaking with personal experience with this recommendation?
Being that i have crohn’s disease, I don't try to eat anything right before a race. I always like to give myself a little bit of time. On race day I am a big cold meat sandwich kind of guy.
Q: What do drivers talk about when they’re standing around at driver intros before a race?
Not sure really, not a whole lot. One thing that is kind of interesting, this is really driver intros but every year for the LIttle 500 you are trying to hydrate a lot prior to that race. So you have to use the restroom alot that day. It seems like I always meet Kody (Swanson) at the turn one port-o-potty before the race begins.
Q: Do you have any pre-race superstitions or rituals?
I would say my superstitions are more on the preparation side of things like in the shop. For instance the very last thing I like to do to the car is spray wax it and wipe it down. Stuff has got to be clean.
Q: What's a TV show you're really into right now?
Ummm, Justified. It is about a US Deputy Marshall based in Eastern Kentucky that is fighting crime.
Q: If you could teammates with any driver who would it be?
I am not much of a team player… I think it would be cool to be teammates with my uncle Dave Raohrig. A little known fact to most 500 Sprint Car Tour fans is that Me and Kody were actually teammates on the Tom Brewer/Speed Chasers team for each of our first Little 500’s in 2015.
