CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Audio and story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — United States Speed Association photo —
Kyle O’Gara is capping off a strong 2015 season with his third appearance at the Rumble in Fort Wayne inside Allen County’s War Memorial Coliseum and Expo Center.
The 20-year-old Hoosier native won the Mel Kenyon Midget Series points title this year on the strength of a series-record 12 victories, and is also preparing to launch Speedway Indoor Karting in 2016 alongside his family.
Despite not making the Saturday A-Feature at the Rumble, O’Gara took time on Sunday morning to speak with Race Chaser Online about his 2015 campaign, his family’s new business venture and his own racing plans going into the new year…
RCO: Talk us through your 2015 season Kyle. I know on the Kenyon Midget side of things, there was nobody touching you all year long.
KOG – Absolutely. We’ve had a great season in the Mel Kenyon Midget Series. We’ve had good preparation in cars all year. I think that was a key to (our success). We spent a lot of time and put a lot of detail into our cars and I think that’s where we gained the most on everyone. As for the Rumble, we’ve got some work to do here. We made some changes from (Saturday) night, so we’ll see how we do today.
RCO: You had the feature made twice last night, but it just wouldn’t let you stay up there. I know being that close and not making it had to be frustrating.
KOG: We had an electrical gremlin get us in our heat. We had an ECU issue. We had to come back and rewire a bunch of stuff and figure out what we had there. We’re still learning with this Honda motor. We had a little too much stagger in the qualifying race. Not being able to finish the heat race definitely hurt us because we weren’t able to see what the car was going to do. We have a good motor and I think we’re plenty strong.
RCO: Talk about this track a little bit. I know you’ve been here before. This track is a tricky little animal to try and get figured out.
KOG: (chuckles) Yeah. We’ve had some bad luck here but it’s fun. It’s a driver’s track. You have to hustle the car. You have to get aggressive with it. There are a lot of good drivers up here. We’re happy to be up here. We just have to get some luck to go our way.
RCO: What does 2016 look like for you, Kyle?
KOG: We’re going to try and hit more dirt midget races. We’d like to put a new face in our Kenyon car. I’d like to run that program and see how we can be successful there again with a new driver so, we look forward to keeping that program up with a new face in it. I’d like to do more dirt midget racing and see where it takes us. If we get the chance to go do some stock car stuff or maybe some Indy Lights stuff again, we’re obviously going to jump on it. We’ll see come March!
RCO: You and your family have a new karting venture going on. Tell us about that program, which is coming in 2016.
KOG: Sure! We’re opening Speedway Indoor Karting on Main Street in Speedway (Indiana). It’s a 62,000 square foot facility and we’re really excited about it. It’s a great venture for my brother Andy and his wife Sarah (Fisher, IndyCar team owner). I’ll be running things day to day for them. Watching the construction phase going on right now has been awesome. All the walls are up and it’s all enclosed so it’s rolling along quick now.
RCO: I know there are a lot of people who help you get here to the Rumble In Ft. Wayne and throughout your season. Who would you like to thank?
KOG: Definitely. First of all, Brian Ludlow at Indy Trading Post. They’re the owners of this car and the Kenyon Midget from this year. They’re the reason we’re here right now. O’Gara’s Irish Pub, Jockish Flowers and Power Q have all been huge supporters for me and hopefully we can go into another year with them.
Listen in to the full cut of our Five in Five conversation with Kyle O’Gara by clicking on the player below:
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
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