Oklahoma’s Ryan Timms Set to be Heavy Challenger in Jr. Sprints and Restricted at Shootout!

(Mike Howard Photos)
Tulsa, OK | December 27, 2017 – Bursting onto the scene with a dominating 2017 season, Ryan Timms enters this week’s 33rd annual Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout as a heavy contender in not one, but two divisions. A 33-time winner this year, Timms turned in an incredible Jr. Sprint resume while getting a head start on his move into the Restricted division and already showing massive promise there. Teamed with his do-it-all coach, crew chief, mechanic, Billy Lawhead, the duo have established themselves as an immediate force to be reckoned with when their Western Flyer Express No. 5T pulls into the pits. Competing in three classes this week, Timms will tackle the Jr. Sprint, Restricted and A-Class divisions as he chases his first-career Golden Driller.

“Ryan has came a long way in a short time and I give most of that credit to us being able to race so much last year,” said Billy Lawhead, Ryan’s crew chief. “We ran somewhere around 75 feature events last year and won 33 of them. His transition to the bigger cars has amazed me the most. I believe not running one particular class for an extended amount time has helped him be able to jump in and win quick in anything.”

With two previous appearances at the Tulsa Shootout under his belt, Timms has yet to garner a feature start, but that is sure to change this year. Since the addition of Lawhead to the program, Timms has soared to another level and put himself into the category as one of the quickest rising young guns in micro sprint racing. Winning several of the nation’s biggest events from Oklahoma to Missouri and even Illinois, Timms showed up and showed out everywhere he went in 2017.

“My goals are pretty small this week, I want to win the heat race, win the qualifier, and put ourselves in the feature with a good starting position,” said Lawhead. After that, I know he can do the rest and get the job done. We had a really great year together, so I plan on finishing the year strong this week.”

Beginning on Thursday, December 28th with practice and heat races, the 33rd edition of the Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout will run through Sunday, December 31st when a new batch of Golden Driller winners are crowned. Walkapedia will continue our Tulsa Shootout coverage all week long with countless previews leading up to the race as we highlight this year’s contenders.