RYAN GODOWN

GREAT NEWS! Here is a press release from Brett Deyo! Ryan Godown & Johnny Rea Plan Full 2009 Grandview Assault

READING, PA - Call it unfinished business.Ryan Godown, the third-place finisher in Grandview (Pa.) Speedway's 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 358-Modified standings, has set plans for another championship bid at the Bechtelsville, Pa., oval in '09.The Ringoes, N.J., driver will return to Grandview at the wheel of Johnny Rea's JR Motorsports No. R1 for the second straight season."I'm excited to go back," offered Godown, a Garden State big-block Modified standout who switched to the Pennsy small-block scene last year. "If I didn't go back, it would look like I ran from the place."I feel like we got over the hump last year. We took our licks at Grandview. Now we're ready to run for a championship."Godown, 33, won his first Grandview feature on Aug. 23 en route to being named the Best Newcomer at the one-third-mile track's Awards Banquet in November.However, the nephew of dirt-track legend Stan Ploski knows there is plenty of room for improvement. "The car wasn't there all year," he said. "Even when we won, we were struggling. We had too many DNFs. I was trying too hard to make up for the car and I put myself in positions I shouldn't have."Godown said the JR Motorsports team would switch chassis brands for '09 at Grandview from Bicknell to Teo-Pro. Power will come from Ford spec head engines."I know I can be consistent every week if we get the car right," Godown said.An off-season meeting between Godown and Reading, Pa.'s Rea set a positive tone for the upcoming year. "Johnny is really psyched for this year - even more than he was going into last year."Godown currently has no firm plans to race weekly on Friday nights at Big Diamond (Pa.) Raceway.He will run a No. 26 Bicknell he co-owns with Stanton Hills Landscaping's Greg Schatzel in big-block special events throughout the region. Godown considered returning to weekly Saturday competition at New Egypt (N.J.) Speedway, but was turned off by off-season changes at the half-mile oval - particularly engine rules, he feels, will force the use of a "$30,000 open small-block" to be competitive.
The JR Motorsports No. R1 will be on display in The Brake Man booth Jan. 16-17 at Motorsports 2009, the annual winter auto racing gathering at the Atlantic City (N.J.) Convention Center.