5/31/2015
Inside Line Promotions
Starks Scores Win, Pair of Podiums During Marvin Smith Memorial
(Photo by Dirt Monkey Productions)
Inside Line Promotions – COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (May 31, 2015) – Trey Starks has discovered the consistency that had eluded him the past couple of seasons.
Starks extended his top-five streak to 10 consecutive races in his family owned sprint car following a win and a third-place result last weekend during the 2nd annual Marvin Smith Memorial at Cottage Grove Speedway.
The victory was his third of the year, which tied a season high, and the pair of top-three finishes gives Starks eight podiums during the current 10-race streak.
“We’re running really good and doing what we’re supposed to do,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been fighting for is to run up front with the big guys or the big dogs that you have to beat every night. To maybe consider myself one of them is a great feeling.”
Starks kicked off the weekend at the quarter-mile oval on Friday by qualifying second quickest. He then advanced from sixth to third place to lock himself into the dash, which he won to garner the pole for the 30-lap feature.
“Friday night we had an awesome car,” he said. “The thing was head and shoulders faster than anyone else’s car. It just went perfect wherever I wanted to go. It didn’t miss a beat. The track was really slick and wide. It was narrow on the bottom and narrow on the top. As the years have gone on we’ve done better on the slick tracks, which is now what our forte is.”
Starks led the distance of the race, which didn’t have a caution, to win by 9.9 seconds. He lapped up to sixth place during what he described as his most dominant win ever.
“We took off from the drop of the green flag and it went green to checkered,” he said. “I just never really looked back. I picked my way through traffic. We had some good California guys running with us as well as the Northwest ones. I was running like somebody was right behind me. It was a really good feeling hearing guys after the race telling us how quick we were. It was pretty cool to know we won by that much and were that dominant. It’s not going to happen very often. I can’t thank my crew, my dad and my grandpa enough for giving me such a great car.”
Starks returned to Cottage Grove Speedway on Saturday for the $4,100-to-win finale. He opened the night by timing in fifth quickest during qualifying before placing fourth in a heat race to lock himself into the dash. Starks won the dash for the second straight night to line up on the pole for the 41-lap feature.
“I took the lead on the start and on the second lap I went off the end of the track in turns three and four and lost the lead to Jared Peterson,” he said. “We ended up getting it back a few laps later. As the bottom line came in we just weren’t quite there. We weren’t set up to run the bottom. We were freed up to run the cushion.
“I saw (Jason) Solwold’s nose a few times. I tried to do all that I could to protect the lead. I changed lines several times and tried running the bottom. He was just faster than us.”
Starks lost the top spot and fell to fourth with approximately 15 laps remaining. He then made a last-lap pass on Kyle Hirst to secure third place.
“The Marvin Smith Memorial is a great race and had some great drivers,” he said. “It would have been really cool to sweep the weekend, but we got a win and two podiums so that’s all you can ask for. You can’t win them all.”
Starks is scheduled to compete this Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 29 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 3 (6); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (1).
May 30 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 4 (5); Dash: 1 (2); Feature: 3 (1).
SEASON STATS –
23 races, 3 wins, 11 top fives, 12 top 10s, 13 top 15s, 17 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Starks55Trey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreyStarksRacing?fref=ts
APPAREL –
Starks has t-shirts and hoodies for sale at http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Starks Timber Processing
Starks Timber Processing is a logging business owned by Trey’s father, John, who is a third-generation logger. It has been based out of Washington for more than 15 years.
“Starks Timber Processing is what provides me the opportunity to race,” Trey said. “It has played a huge role in my life, both on the track and away from it.”
Starks would also like to thank Southstar Equipment, Blue Dot Fabrications, SpeedMart, King Racing Products, Masco Petroleum, RCC Powder Coating and Emory Transmission for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
