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Haney taps Riesterer to pinch-hit for teammate at Gateway Showdown

Some scheduling conflicts are causing Keith Haney Racing to shuffle the deck a little for this weekend's X-DRL X-treme Gateway Showdown, but the team's namesake is confident in the hand he'll be dealt at Gateway Motorsports Park.

As usual Haney will take the wheel of his red, nitrous-injected Lucas Oil Chevy Camaro, and normally Monroe Guest is behind the wheel of the black Lucas Oil Camaro, but prior commitments have Guest out of the country this weekend.

To fill that vacant seat, Haney didn't have to search very far.

"Doug Riesterer has been helping tune our cars all year long and is a championship driver in his own right," Haney said. "Since Monroe couldn't be in St. Louis with us this weekend, Doug is a great choice for the black car."

While assuming driving duties, Riesterer will also continue to tune both cars alongside Brandon Pesz.

"We want to keep both of our cars in front of our fans and sponsors," Haney said. "Doug is one of the best Pro Nitrous drivers in the country, so I convinced him to drive for us this weekend.

"With Doug driving and tuning, I think it'll also help me as a driver with my race car. Doug will be getting a lot of track information first-hand, which will help both cars significantly."

Haney's team has put a lot of focus on whipping the black Camaro into shape in recent weeks.

"My red car has been running phenomenally well, almost perfect, but we've been struggling to get the black car to that same level," Haney said. "I put seven hits on the car out at the racetrack a couple of Sundays ago - it was the first time I'd ever driven that car.

"We finally figured out what was going on. We found there was a shock issue and a couple of other little things that were holding it back. Who knows, the black car may go lower than the red car, which actually might be pretty exciting."

Qualifying for the X-treme Gateway Showdown gets under way at 3 p.m. CDT on Friday from Gateway Motorsports Park. One final qualifying session will be held at noon on Saturday before eliminations begin at 3 p.m.

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