Don Reem and Ryan Taylor Play The Waiting Game; Ensures They Are Still Going To Run
Story By: JUSTIN SNYDER / RACERSGUIDEE.COM STAFF WRITER Photos By: TRENT GOWER / RACERSGUIDE.COM
Perkasie, PA – June 9, 2016- Come October as races begin winding down and the cars are pushed into trailers for the final time, Central Pennsylvania sprint car fans are already churning the rumor mill and impatiently awaiting the start of the new season.
There are new paint schemes to see and driver changes aplenty. With every schedule announcement of a local track and every trade show debut, fans just can’t get enough! Sprint Car racing in Central Pennsylvania truly is a year long ordeal.
So when Ryan Taylor announced in mid January that he had teamed up with Don Reem, of Don’s Performance Corner Inc, to field a new 410 Sprint Car ride for Friday night shows at Williams Grove Speedway, fans were excited at the thought of another quality ride taking to the track weekly.
In a time when the cost of racing is at an all time high and weekly car counts often dominate headlines as much as the racing on the track, it was great news to fans and drivers alike to hear that an outsider was venturing into the Sprint Car world as an owner.
Reem, who comes from a drag racing background, was giving up that passion to become a J &J Chassis dealer. He also owns his own engine shop and was looking to create his own power-plant package for Sprint Cars. With Taylor already running J&J Chassis and looking to add to his racing schedule, it seemed like a match made in racing heaven.
However, while Taylor has been a regular at Port Royal Speedway in his family owned No.20 on Saturday nights, he has not been seen in the much talked about Friday night ride yet this season.
And the fans have started to ask questions.
Is the owner out of money already? Is he packing it up before ever getting started? Will this deal every come together? Taylor has heard it all.
“I appreciate the support and I understand the excitement of the fans,” said Taylor. “Trust me, I would love to be racing more and be honing my skills behind his Sprint Car.”
“But the truth is that it takes a lot of time and money to put these types of deals together and he’s just making sure to get things right before we hit the track,” added Taylor.
The car is sitting ready to be raced and Reem is putting together the final touches on the motor program.
He also has been gutting and refurbishing a trailer that was purchased from the family of the late Kramer Williamson to be ready to head to the track.
While it has been a slow process, Taylor is staying upbeat and is ready whenever the final product is ready to hit the track.
“As of right now I’m just staying in touch with Don and trying to keep up with where things are at,” said Taylor. “He’s two hour away from me, so I can’t be at the shop as much as I’d like. He made a lot of progress in a small time and I’m just patiently waiting for the final product to be complete.”
When he’s not racing, Taylor letters Sprint Cars, signs and banners as owner of Ryan Taylor Graphics. Working for himself, along with driving a family owned machine on a regular basis, he can appreciate the time and effort it takes to get things off the ground from nothing.
“When we first talked I told him not to be in any rush to get things together as there are plenty of races in PA to race at,” said Taylor, a 6-time winner on the 410 circuit. “He wants things to look nice and be done right and I believe that’s a good way to go about it when you are starting new. It’s certainly been a process, but I hope we are out there sooner than later.”
Until then, Taylor will continue to pilot his Accelerated Surface Finishing, Evans Heat Treating machine at Port Royal. He had planned to run for points there throughout the season, but due to a lack of funding the team may pick and choose going forward where they run.
He has been really impressed with the improvements made at Susquehanna Speedway and enjoys racing on their surface. He also likes the Yellow Breeches 500 races being offered at Williams Grove Speedway, which pays $500 to start and is equivalent to that of Knoxville Raceway and is the highest of its kind in the central PA area.
“I think we are going to have to take a look and reevaluate where we are at on a weekly basis,” said Taylor. “We are really only budgeted for Port Royal every week, but if we can hit some of these other shows instead and make a little more money; it only makes sense from a business standpoint.”
The biggest problem they face is that their motor program does not stand up well against some of the other teams in the pits weekly. Because of that, they are attempting to make it through the season on one motor
“Motor builders tell you what you can do limit wise on these things and we are trying to make it last all year,” said Taylor. “Rider Racing Engines gives us great stuff, but we really are just hanging on and hoping for the best.”
As a result, he’ll continue to run as much as possible and hope for the best.
“I don’t do this for a living and I’m certainly not making any money off racing, “said Taylor. “I love racing Sprint Cars and being out there on the track. So I’m just going to stay optimistic and everything will come together in the end.”
