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Middie is tops among Ohio Legends drivers

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11:53 PM Thursday, August 11, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — He may be the guy behind the wheel who gets all the attention when he wins, but Legends Car race driver Ty Rose knows where his bread is buttered.

Rose, of Middletown, is the top-ranked Legends Series driver in Ohio in the Young Lions, Asphalt Division.

He’s been quick at Kentucky Speedway, Columbus Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Speedrome, but he was even quicker to thank his father, Kevin Rose, and grandfather, Denny Rose, for turning the wrenches and getting him to the front of the field.

“I know I wouldn’t be where I am with my racing career if it wasn’t for those two,” Rose, 15, said. “We’ve been working on my gear set-ups for the new Kentucky Speedway track, and my dad is the one who does all the work. It takes about an hour so to get in there and switch out the gearing, and he’s been building me a 1976 Corvette as my first car, too.

“My grandfather has been there to help, too. Those guys don’t get enough credit for what they do, but I really do appreciate it.”

Through his first 10 races of the 2011 Legends Series schedule, Rose has four wins (all at Speedrome), one second, one third, a sixth, seventh and two fourth-place finishes. That’s 10 top-10 finishes in his first 10 races. Most race drivers would love to have a record like that.

Rose said the challenge at the newly designed Kentucky Speedway course is just finding the right gear combination.

As part of the expansion package in preparation for last month’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the track, pit row was moved closer to the main grandstands to enable fans to get a better look at the action. As a result, the infield Legends track had to be moved along with it.

“I like the new track better than the old one,” the future Middletown Middie sophomore said. “I like how part of the track actually runs on the main Speedway tri-oval now. It makes for a faster track, too. But that means we need a different gear combination, and that’s what we’ve been working on lately.”

After a series of rainouts put the Legends race schedule behind a bit, Kentucky Speedway has run a couple double-double racing weekends.

Earlier this year, Kentucky hosted a doubleheader of races on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Rose crew learned that four races in two days can put a lot of stress on the car, especially the motor.

Some recently discovered carburetor problems on the car’s 1250cc, 122 horsepower Yamaha motor, slowed Rose down a bit in a recent race at Columbus.

“We were running on three cylinders and not the usual four,” Rose said. “We have another double-double at Kentucky Speedway this weekend, but I don’t think we’re going to be running all four races. Maybe one race each day, but not four. That’s too much.”

Gates open at 9 a.m. with practice runs set for 10:30, and the first race of the doubleheader to follow.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.

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