Gary Lyle thought he was done racing. He was wrong. Very wrong.

“In the middle of 2011, we broke the motor, and we were done,” Lyle said.

“We thought we were ready to give it up, but after a couple years of watching it from the stands, it just didn't make it. Everybody wanted to do it again, but the funding wasn't there yet.”

What to do then? The team did the only thing it could — find a car and go back to racing.

“This is actually my old car,” said Lyle, 58, of Leechburg. “It's the old Racers for Tots car. ... I kept track of it, and it really wasn't run that much, and it was a good car to get even though it's a 2008.”

Lyle, Lernerville's 1998 Late Model champion, is back after a brief hiatus. Even so, there was a hint of apprehension before Lyle got back out on the track.

“I don't want to say I was scared,” Lyle said. “But I was a little bit nervous and wasn't sure if I remembered everything. But it turned out to be just like riding a bike. You never forget. We got to the test and tune day, but our problem was I gathered up all of the old equipment, so we were dealing with some old parts.

“We ran four laps and had some problems with belts and pulleys. We were running it in the garage this week, and the MSD just quit. It's old stuff. So we are fighting through some bugs. Eventually, we are going to get new stuff.”

Lyle is 11th in points and he has two top-10 finishes this season. His top finish came last week when he ran eighth. That goes with his seven career victories at Lernerville.

With less than a month before the World of Outlaws Firecracker 100 event in late June, Lyle is not sure if he will be ready for that challenge.

“I wasn't at that caliber when I was racing before,” Lyle said with a laugh. “But, I am going to race and to try. There may be some surprising setup that might work. The most important thing for that is to set the car up so it will be OK.

“But right now, we can't really worry about that. We have to go out and find ways to finish laps and get comfortable again with the local guys.”

Lyle is cautious about what to expect this season, at least until he gets his parts program up to date.

“Right now, I'm really most thinking about what's going to break,” Lyle said. “So many things have been happening, so I am worrying more about what is going on inside that car than I am about driving. I was able to get some good laps in though.”

Even though that 1998 championship was a while ago, Lyle is not about to back down. That same season, the other Lernerville champions all won their first track championships: Jimmy Hawley in Sprint Cars, Brian Swartzlander in V-8 Modifieds and Joe Kelley in Stocks, and Lyle in the Late Models.

“I want to run in the top five and to be steady,” Lyle said. “A win would be nice. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could win. I do believe that everything would have to be right to win. I don't think we are ready yet for three wins in July of the championship year. We are working the bugs out, trying to have fun. And we will go from there.”

Thomas Zuck is a freelance writer.

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