VERSAILLES, Mo. — Ayrton Gennetten will step up in the world of sprint car racing this season, and he’ll do so with the support of two champion sponsors within the industry.
Gennetten, 21, will make the move to 410 sprint cars on a regular basis after winning the ASCS Warrior Region championship last season in the 360 ranks.
He’ll contest a schedule of roughly 65 races with new primary backers Fischer Body Shop and Baughman Motorsports, which have joined Gennetten’s familiar No. 3 team after three straight All Star Circuit of Champions titles with veteran Aaron Reutzel.
With Reutzel seizing an opportunity to go World of Outlaws racing with Roth Motorsports, Fischer Body Shop co-owners Curt and Devin Fischer, along with Mike and Josh Baughman, sought out Gennetten as a young star they wanted to help climb the ladder in dirt-track racing.
“With Aaron getting his opportunity to go Outlaw racing, it opened the door for us and the Baughmans to try and do something a little different,” said Devin Fischer. “It almost got to where racing was a little monotonous and not as much fun, just because traveling with the All Star tour and going where they were running all the time got to be a pretty big grind. It’s a lot of miles and we just couldn’t get to the race track a lot.
“I’ve been following Ayrton for a long time. I remember when he was racing go-karts years ago, when he was just a kid, but I’ve paid attention to him over the last few years and he’s really impressed me with how he’s stepped up on some of these bigger stages,” Fischer continued. “Even last year, he moved up to the 410 (sprint car) and ran mid-pack with the Outlaws with only a handful of 410 races under his belt. That showed a lot to me and I think showcased that he’s capable of being at that level.
“When you do stuff like that in your first couple of big-time races, it’s going to get some people’s attention and it definitely got ours.”
Gennetten made nine feature starts with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series last season, with a best finish of 13th twice. However, he was contending for a top five result at Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in July before a mid-race flip relegated him to a 20th-place finish.
It’s that kind of speed that has Gennetten confident he can improve on his numbers from last year, especially since he’ll be spending a lot more time racing with a 410 engine underneath him.
“I’m really excited, that’s for sure,” said Gennetten. “It’s something that makes you better, when you start racing with the Outlaws and you’re side by side with the best of the best night-in and night-out. Obviously, we won’t run the full schedule with them this season, but we want to do a decent number of the World of Outlaws races and just be smart about our schedule.
“I thought it was pretty good, what all we did last year, considering my limited experience with the bigger motors,” Gennetten added. “We want to improve on that this season and be learning every night out. As long as we’re making progress through the year, that’s what will be really important to us.”
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