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[/media-credit]Growing up just miles away from the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Fowler developed a love for car racing. Fowler, now a 19 year old from Symrna, has grown to become a major prospect in the eyes of one small car operation.
Randy Hill Racing, a team formed late last season, signed Tim Andrews to a full-time deal to drive the No. 08 Ford Mustang throughout the 2012 Nationwide Series campaign. But, due to sponsorship woes, the team decided to go with a different approach.
Casey Roderick, along with Fowler, have each ran a minimal portion of the ten races completed this season.
Fowler’s resume isn’t the most impressive. However, the 19 year old has driven for three well-known figures throughout the world of motorsports including Eddie Sharp, Ken Schrader, and Billy Venturini, all of which came in the ARCA series.
“My experience in the ARCA series was definitely very beneficial when I had to come over here to the Nationwide Series with the help of Randy Hill Racing. I was able to race on similar tracks like the ones I’m racing on here and it was great to have some experienced people behind me such as Mr. Schrader and the Venturini’s in ARCA,” said Fowler.
Randy Hill has known Fowler for a few months now. Before the two met, Hill was an ordinary fan who wanted to own a team. Hill was able to accomplish this feat over time. When he had an open seat for the Las Vegas, Bristol, and Texas races, he set his sights on giving Fowler a shot at stardom.
“Well honestly it was a last minute deal when I got the call before Vegas. I think it was Monday , the week before as Mr. Hill called that morning and I didn’t know, nor have a clue what he would say,” said Fowler. “A lot of times last minute deals don’t usually work out, but we’re very fortunate to get valuable seat time and get our first start under our belt.”
At times, Fowler wasn’t sure if he was able to get back in the car again at any point throughout the remaining portion of the schedule. Fowler kept in mind that a return to ARCA would be something he would consider, yet it wasn’t his first option.
In his three races behind the wheel this season, the Georgia native has qualified no worse than 21st, including his Texas Motor Speedway debut where he broke a crank on a practice qualifying run. The team bounced back though with an impressive 21st place finish after starting from the back of the pack.
“It’s great to be able to do that. We’re a low budget team so we don’t have a lot of cars. If we tear one up, it’s hard to fix it and come back to the track so if we can keep the car out there and work between race to race, then we’ll definitely start gaining on it and I think that’s kind of what happened with us,” Fowler said. “We were able to make big gains throughout the race and with ten minutes to go left in practice, we blew a motor so that kind of put us behind the eight-ball there. We changed the motor, got it ready for qualifying and got a pretty decent lap out of it.”
In his three Nationwide Series appearances, Fowler has experience a mechanical issue in each of the races. Even though that is just ol’ lady luck,
Fowler has shown that he has the talent to take his equipment to the front of the pack.
Fowler didn’t climb up to the Nationwide Series by himself. His family had a lot to do with his early success.
Mike and Lisa Fowler, Kyle’s parents, have supported him since he began pursuing a racing career.
“Well, ever since I started racing they’ve been my team. We’ve always been a low budget deal ourselves. Me and my dad have always worked on the cars at the track. Them seeing me race at this level is great. To have them there for support and everything , it’s hard to put into words the chance that I’m getting to do. I would have never thought when I first strapped behind a racecar that I would be able to race against some of these great guys like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, and some of those guys,” Fowler said.
Fowler’s father goes to each race with him. When the motor expired during practice for the O’Reily Auto Parts 300 in April, he was one of the lone pit crew members putting the backup engine in the car in time for qualifying, even though the team was locked in on owner points.
The elder Fowler is a perfect fit to help in at Randy Hill Racing. Though the team partnered with Go-Green Racing during the off-season, the team is still underfunded with a limited amount of resources.
“Well, whenever I’m racing the car, my father is at the shop. We have our Car Chief and about two-three other guys working on the cars and with the partnership with Go-Green Racing, they have a few guys as well and we all kind of work together on that. But, we’re not the Penske, the Roush, and the Gibbs guys with hundreds of people back at the shop, so it’s great to be able to do what we’re able to accomplish with a limited budget, limited man power, and limited horse power,” said Fowler who shows a great knowledge for what his competition bears.
Along the way, Fowler has seen hundreds of driver’s race. But, while racing legends cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he and his father met David and Ken Ragan.
“I wasn’t really as close to him until I started asking him about some of the tracks when we were both racing. It’s great to ask him what the cars will do on the long run or what to expect when racing with different track conditions. It’s great to have that as far as that. “
Ragan, whom of which drives for an underfunded team himself, has helped Fowler’s learning curve in a modest way. Besides Ragan, Fowler credits his knowledge of knowing how to get around new tracks to his IRacing simulator which has proven to help the 19 year old make his way around some of the toughest tracks the series has to offer.
Fowler’s future remains a mystery. He, nor Randy Hill, nor anyone in the garage area is sure what he will be doing throughout the remainder of the season.
“At this point but I’m taking it week by week and waiting to see what might come up,” said Fowler.
Indubitably, something came up as Fowler returns behind the wheel with RHR at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend in the History 300.
