Ryan Bernal Bags Runner Up Finish with USAC National Series at Knoxville Raceway
PETERSEN MEDIA: Making the trip to Knoxville Raceway with Tom Dunkel Racing to take on the USAC National Sprint Car Series, Ryan Bernal gave the team their best national series finish as he ran second in Saturday night’s finale.
“First and foremost, I really want to thank Tom and Christy Dunkel for giving me the opportunity to head to Knoxville Raceway and race with the USAC national series,” Ryan Bernal said. “Though second wasn’t what we wanted, it is still something to be proud of as a team from CA.”
Saturday night, Bernal got the night underway by timing the Inland Rigging/NOS Energy Drink/1Way Technologies backed entry in 14th in qualifying time trials.
Picking up the win in heat race competition, Bernal locked into the feature event where he took the green flag from the seventh starting position.
On the slick ½ mile, Bernal got off to a great start when the feature came to life as he settled into sixth, and then moved into fourth on the third lap when a wreck in front of him took out a couple of cars.
When the race came back to life, Bernal worked into third on the eighth lap, and then found himself in second on the 13thlap as he chased after leader, Kevin Thomas Jr.
Continuing to work the bottom groove, Bernal was able to cut Thomas’ lead down on a pair of occasions but couldn’t quite get to him to challenge for the top spot late in the race.
Hanging on to second, Bernal picked up the runner up finish and gave the TDR team their best ever national series finish.
“We were really good all weekend long, and that is a testament to Jimmy, Charlie, Aiden, and Blake,” Bernal added. “We got better each time we hit the track and that shows with how we finished the night off on Saturday. Really thankful to have great people like TDR, JFM, NOS, and Inland Rigging behind me for the support to get to one of the best tracks that we have in sprint car racing.”
Ryan Bernal and TDR would like to thank NOS Energy Drink, Inland Rigging, JFM, BOXO, Dunkel Farms, Keizer Wheels, BR Motorsports, Pacific Highway Rentals, King racing Products, HBC, Macerick, RB Inserts, Osborne Speed and Machine, SURECAN, MPe, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.
JFM would like to thank NOS Energy Drink, Inland Rigging, MPe, SURECAN, Woodland Auto Display, Beilman Motorsports, and 1Way Technologies for their support in 2025.
BY THE NUMBERS: Races: 13, Wins: 0, Top 5’s: 4, Top 10’s: 7
ON TAP: Bernal will travel back to CA and return to the seat of the TDR No. 17 entry on Saturday night in Bakersfield, CA.
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