Quick Q & A with Evan Koehler at SRI's Fan Fest

Quick Q & A with Evan Koehler at SRI’s Fan Fest

By Rhonda Beck, WISNC Creations/BeckRacingMedia

11-6-2024                                                                                                                              

On Tuesday, several drivers gearing up for the World Finals at Charlotte this week gathered at SRI Performance in Mooresville, N.C. to greet fans and do some on-air interviews. They also took a few moments to answer some individual questions before heading to the Dirt Track at Charlotte for tonight’s hauler parade and other festivities. Here is a short Q & A with Evan Koehler of Mount Airy, N.C. He is part of the Koehler Motorsports team that won the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship with Ricky Thornton, Jr. Koehler is racing the L114 super late model for the first time at the World Finals this week.

Rhonda Beck: Hey Evan, good to see  you here at SRI and first of all, like I told Jordan, congrats to you and your whole family on the Lucas championship. Do you have any comment on being up there for that?

Evan Koehler: Yeah, it was nice. It was different seeing Ricky and everybody run and being able to win the championship. We brung him on here just hoping for him to do somewhat decent and we ended up being pretty good. So I guess it was good enough to win a championship.

RB: Yeah, and I talked last week here to Brock Pinkerous, and he won that RUSH championship and he said everybody was so nervous that last day. He was trying not to be. So how were you guys or just hoping for the best?

EK: Our tire guy—I think he burned a hole to China when we was racing about the last five laps. It was definitely nerve-wracking. It sucks that JD blew up because he had a really good car and everything. And Ricky, he had a really good car and we’d rather win the championship than lose the entire thing. We kind just rode back there in third where we finished. We rode in third and kinda just let it go.

RB: And now you’re going to be competing here at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. You had that win at Millbridge and have been competing and doing well in crates and supers. This last weekend you were with your brother when he was doing the modifieds over at the World Short Track Championship. Did you have a good time?

EK: Yeah, it was fun. Jordan had a really good car for the feature. We started like sixth or seventh and was passing for fourth or fifth, I think, and whoever was up front spun out and messed us up and we ended up tenth, I think. It sucks that we wrecked, but it’s alright. It happens.

RB: And your shop was neat to visit this year. Thanks for talking to me there and showing me around. Are there certain things you’ve learned working on each of the cars this year, or anything specific?

EK: Yeah, you learn a lot when you get to people that run on the national level and know a lot more than you do. Because, heck, these boys have been doing this their whole life and they’re on the road every day. They know a lot more and you just sit back and watch and learn.

RB: And your family, you like traveling with them?

EK: Yeah, it’s nice. It’s different. We don’t run that much but we run just enough to what we can handle.

RB: And now you tested over here at the Dirt Track?

EK: Yeah, I tested the super the other week and we done pretty good and we’re going to give our shot at it this week.

RB: Do you have any expectations?

EK: We know we ain’t gonna go out there and win. So we’re just trying not to tear anything up. And not to be in the way the best we can. Because I ain’t no Ricky Thornton, obviously. We’re going to at least go out there and get a couple good finishes. I mean, we ain’t gonna go win, but at the end of the day it’s just to have fun.