{"id":23493,"date":"2018-06-23T13:26:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-23T17:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=23493"},"modified":"2018-06-23T12:27:01","modified_gmt":"2018-06-23T16:27:01","slug":"momentary-setback-doesnt-deter-brydens-enthusiasm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2018\/06\/momentary-setback-doesnt-deter-brydens-enthusiasm\/","title":{"rendered":"Momentary setback doesn\u2019t deter Bryden\u2019s enthusiasm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Momentary setback doesn\u2019t deter Bryden\u2019s enthusiasm
\nWest Springfield teen making the move from karts to SK Lite Modifieds<\/strong><\/p>\n

WATERFORD \u2014 Unless the smoke is coming from a victory cigar, smoke on the race track usually means trouble.
\nThat was the case for 17-year-old Alicia Bryden of West Springfield as she was preparing for her second career SK Lite Modified start at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on June 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went out for the third practice and we were running good laps,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cThen I heard a bing and I saw a bunch of smoke. I quickly pulled in because I thought the car may be on fire, but there was no fire. Instead a piston rod put a hole in the oil pan and we blew the motor.\u201d<\/p>\n

That put her move to the SK Lites on hold, but Bryden said it\u2019s a pothole the team is ready to climb out of..
\n\u201cIt is a big setback, but we\u2019re weighing information on what we should do and what engine we should get,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cWe\u2019re planning to be back in two weeks.\u201d
\nBryden is making the jump from the Pro 2 Modifieds at Stafford Speedway\u2019s Wild Thing Kart competition, where she had three career wins, to an SK Lite.
\n\u201cMy grandpa and my dad offered me an opportunity to race an SK Lite,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cIt was the end of an era for me in the Pro 2s. And I didn\u2019t want to go to the DARE Stocks or Limited Late Models. I wanted to stay in an open-wheel car so we wouldn\u2019t have to reset completely. And that\u2019s what we did.\u201d
\nHer family purchased a Modified from veteran driver Eric LeClaire, who competes primarily at New Hampshire tracks.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a Troyer chassis and it\u2019s always been a fast car,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cEric helped us a lot and sold us a lot of extra parts. We completely rebuilt the car during the winter. We changed almost everything.\u201d
\nHer first race at the Speedbowl on June 9 turned out to be an enjoyable experience, even though she finished 13th out of 16 cars.
\n\u201c\u201dI loved it,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cWe got tangled up with another car in our heat race, but we got the car back out there and gained a lot of experience. Now I know what to expect moving forward. \u201c
\nBryden said this portion of her career is all about logging seat time.
\n\u201cMy goal is to move up from the back and be a contender,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cRacing in the back really isn\u2019t my forte. I expect more from myself. It may take a while, but it will come together.\u201d
\nBryden\u2019s first taste of racing came in the Tiger B division at Stafford.
\n\u201cWade Gagner, who runs the Wild Thing Kart program, was the one who gave me a chance,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cMy dad wanted to protect his little girl. But he finally let me race.\u201d
\nBryden has loved every minute of it.
\n\u201cI was hooked,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cThe adrenaline rush is amazing.\u201d
\nBryden advanced through the karting ranks, moving to the Junior Outlaws and Pros 2s before entering the SK Lite world.
\nBryden wanted to learn more than just how to drive a car. She also wanted to learn how to set up the car.\u201d
\n\u201cI wanted to be more than just a driver,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cI\u2019m in the garage almost every day, trying to balance my sports schedule and my racing schedule.\u201d
\nHer sports plate at West Springfield High is loaded with activity \u2014 and success \u2014playing soccer and basketball.
\nBryden plays on the West Springfield girls soccer team which have won back-to-back Western Massachusetts state titles. She is a defender on the team. The basketball team advanced all the way to the state semifinals before losing by one point.
\nBryden is also an avid I-Racer and spends a lot of time on her computer trying to improve her skills.
\nShe has put soccer and basketball on the back burner for now, however, to concentrate on racing.
\nBryden\u2019s car is sponsored by her dad and grandfather . who also work on the car along with Wade Gagner, Lauren Gagner, Cam McDermott, Gregg Gagner and Glen Gagner.
\nNow she\u2019s just a motor away from resuming her racing career.
\n\u201cI just want to learn everything I can about the car,\u201d Bryden said. \u201cIt may take time, but I think we can be amazing.\u201d
\nBryden already has a winning attitude \u2014 now she\u2019ll try to put the rest of the package together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Momentary setback doesn\u2019t deter Bryden\u2019s enthusiasm West Springfield teen making the move from karts to SK Lite Modifieds WATERFORD \u2014 Unless the smoke is coming from a victory cigar, smoke on the race track usually means trouble. That was the case for 17-year-old Alicia Bryden of West Springfield as she was preparing for her second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-waterford-speedbowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23494,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23493\/revisions\/23494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}