Wednesday, April 9, 2003 Kittleson Rides Florida Success to Houston this weekend "Everything is big in Texas." Well, nothing would be bigger this weekend than for ASA rookie Travis Kittleson to wrestle his first series win in only his second race as an ASA full-time driver. Kittleson and the ASA Racing Series ride into the "Lonestar State" this Saturday for the Texas 250 at Houston Motor Speedway. The 23-year-old is currently riding a wave of emotion, stemming from his career-best, fifth-place finish in the ASA season-opener in Lakeland (FL) just three weeks ago. In fact, in the closing laps of the Jani-King 200 a couple weeks ago, Kittleson was involved in a side-by-side battle for the lead before a bump knocked him out of contention for his first victory. "We are coming off of this fifth-place finish and we are ready to keep it going in Texas," said Kittleson. "I know some people may say it´s only a fifth-place finish, but in this series, to be that competitive and have a chance to win with just 10 laps to go is a great feeling. On top of that, we finished in the top five in our first race as a full-time team and that´s a good reason to be pumped up. So we want to take that momentum and keep it going into Texas. "I think we proved to a lot of people that we can be contenders each week. We were down after qualifying in Lakeland, but we came back and moved our way to the front in a hurry. The car was great, the guys gave me good pit-stops and everything went smoothly. I think we surprised a lot of people and we plan on doing that every week." It will be the first time Kittleson, who sits fifth in ASA points and second in the rookie standings behind Reed Sorenson, has ever raced in the state of Texas. In fact, it will be the first time Kittleson has officially visited the state. "I´ve been through there on our way to California, but I haven´t been able to visit. And when we did drive through the state, we were caught in a major storm that was dumping so much hail on the road that it looked like it was snowing. Hopefully our luck will change this time in Texas." Kittleson has spent his time off of the track preparing the Bob Steele Chevrolet cars in the shop and at the track. He tested at Orlando SpeedWorld with a new setup the team will try in Houston. And although Kittleson has not seen the track, except by the pictures on the internet, he thinks they hit on something during the test. "We were happy with our test and I´m glad to be going to Houston because I hear it´s a really nice facility. I have heard that the corners are concrete and that it´s a very slick track. I´ve also heard the corners really eat up the tires, so we are thinking it may be like another Pensacola (Five Flags Speedway, FL). "We´ve got a new setup package that we are going to try out under race conditions this week, so I am excited about that. If the track is really slick, it should play right into our hands. I´m so excited. I can´t wait for it to get here." Despite the team´s great run in Florida, they are still looking for sponsorship to help them in their quest for the 2003 ASA Rookie of the Year. For inquiries, call the team at 321-693-6700. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! <news@karnac.org>or send a letter to the editor!