Bradley Riethmeyer Remains ROMCO Points Leader Despite Engine Woes
Tough Night for Points Leader Tightens Championship

Hutto, TX (September 30, 2004) – Entering into the next to last race for the 2004 ROMCO Series, 20-year-old Hutto native and Texas A&M student Bradley Riethmeyer held a comfortable 71 point lead in a two man race for the championship. Bradley was coming off a great second place finish at the last ROMCO race and a stellar third place finish the week before at the NASCAR Southeast Series race in Kentucky. Unfortunately for Riethmeyer, at the end of the night the championship was down to 27 points.

Lightning quick in Friday practice, Riethmeyer was a pole contender Saturday afternoon. Coming very close to the top time, Bradley eventually wound up third in the 21 car field.

The 125 lap race would start with the 49 car on the outside front row (top four inverted). As the green flag waved, Bradley raced on the outside for the lead into turn 1. A pileup mid-pack before the 1st lap was completed would bring out the caution and a complete restart would follow. Again on the outside, Riethmeyer raced into turn one. This time he drove to the bottom of the track after losing a few positions on the slippery track.

“With so many different tire compounds running tonight it was hard to get traction on the outside at the start of the race. When I got on the gas the tires spun, so I had to get out of the throttle to keep from wrecking it. I tried to hold my own on the outside but with no grip I was passed by a few cars and had to find the bottom of the track as soon as I could.”

After a few laps, it was clear the blue 49 was extremely quick on long runs. Getting into a rhythm, Bradley began pressuring Doug Hooks in the #99 for the fourth spot. This would continue until right before halfway when Riethmeyer pulled high and out of the racing groove onto pit road right outside the racing surface. He would return back to racing but just as quick pulled off the track again. Finally the decision was made, there was nothing Riethmeyer Racing could do to finish the race. The night ended on lap seventy-one with a 16th place finish.

“Going off into turn 3 I noticed the oil pressure light came on and I looked down and it was at zero. We found that the oil pump belt had been flung off and the four bolts that hold the pulley on had come loose. We tightened the bolts and put on a new belt. The belt came off again. So we put another belt on and again it came off on the track. Instead of hurting the motor we decided to call it quits for tonight, so we could make a run for the championship in San Antonio. It just wasn't worth tearing the motor up.”

The team will bounce back in San Antonio on October 16th needing at least an 8th place finish to secure the ROMCO Super Late Model Series championship. Sponsors for the Riethmeyer Racing #49 racing team include: ACPConsulting.com, Van’s Auto Parts, TexasSpeedzone.com, KAM Racing Engines, and Royal Purple Synthetic Oil.

For more information on Bradley Riethmeyer, visit Bradley’s website at http://www.br49.com and the ROMCO series website at http://www.romcoracing.com.
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