FRANK KREYER LOOKING TO “RACE” IN MANSFIELD, OHIO
 IN SECOND KEY MOTORSPORTS TRUCK RIDE FOR CULVER’S

With his NASCAR racing debut now behind him, veteran Wisconsin super late model stock car driver Frank Kreyer is looking forward to finally “racing” when he makes his NASCAR-mandated second and final Craftsman Truck Series start at the Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in Ohio on Saturday for Key Motorsports.

“I just ran laps, tried to stay out of trouble and everyone else’s way when I ran that first race at Martinsville (VA), but I am really looking forward to going to a race track where I have raced before and where I will hopefully be able to race and not just drive around,” the 36-year-old Kreyer said. Kreyer has seen action at the half-mile Ohio oval in a late model before and has performed well.

Kreyer, who hails from Pardeeville, Wisconsin and has carried the Culver’s Restaurants banner and colors on his late model race cars for the past seven seasons throughout the Midwest, did an incredible job just to make the race at Martinsville.

The motor in his #44 Key Motorsports machine broke early in the second practice session in that April event, ending whatever preparation time that Kreyer had available in an effort to qualify into the 36-truck starting field. With 41 trucks qualifying, and most of them having clocked much quicker laps than Kreyer during the practice time he had, Frank had to beat lap times at least 5 trucks to get in and do so with an untested second motor.

“I have always raced with the attitude that when things got tough, I had to get tough and do whatever I had to do to accomplish my goal,” Kreyer explained. “I have always been a good qualifier, so that was in my favor, so Rick (crew chief Markle) and I sat down on Friday night and I just told him what I would do to the set-up if I was running my late model and I was forced to do something drastic to qualify. It ended up working for us,” he added.

Kreyer went out and knocked off a full six-tenths of a second off of the best time he had clocked during practice and earned the 27th starting spot. He even out qualified Key Motorsports’ primary car, the 40, that was driven by former NCTS champion Mike Bliss. Consider objective number one accomplished.

Kreyer and Culver’s Restaurants will be running four NASCAR Busch Series races later this season with a partnership with Mac Hill Motorsports, but NASCAR ordered the short track ace to run two short track truck series events first in order to get certified for his first Busch outing at Milwaukee next month.

“I guess I passed the first test at Martinsville, but the agenda for me then was much different. Now I have to show that I can race at this level and do so well enough that in the eyes of the NASCAR officials I can hold my own on tracks a mile or longer,” Kreyer explained. “My goal is to run as hard as I can, starting with a strong qualifying effort to make the race and then get a good finish.

“We’re running the same car we ran in Martinsville, and I’ll have the same crew working for me with some changes that should make us even better. So I know how this truck runs and handles, and the direction and help I’ll get from the crew. Give me a good motor and a good set-up, and I’m gunning for a top 15 finish. This I hope will get me the certification I need for those four Busch Series races,” Kreyer added.

In order to accomplish all of this, all Frank Kreyer wants to do now is race!