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HMS Update - Knoxville Nationals

The 360 Knoxville Nationals are over and now we are looking forward to a good weekend to finish off our trip to Iowa. We qualified on Friday night and unfortunately it did not go as we had hoped. After drawing the 68th pill for qualifying I timed in 34th out of about 60 cars which was a respectable time given the worsening track conditions but it did not put us in the top 30 invert for heat races. In the heat I started 7th and finished 7th. Our car wasn’t handling how I like it and I was having trouble getting comfortable in it. We had to go to the B Feature where I started 12th where I was unable to get a full corner in before getting upside down in turn 1. Thankfully the ButlerBuilt seat did its job and I walked away feeling ready to go the next night. Fortunately the frame was not hurt and we came back on Saturday where I started 9th in the D Main. After Calvin Landis, my Dad, and I made some observations in hot laps, we made some changes to the car and I felt much better than the night before. On the start I got hung up for about a lap behind another car and fell a few positions out of the transfer spot. I was able to work the cushion and start gaining back the time I lost and with 2 laps to go I passed for the transfer and moved on to the C-main. In the C, I started dead last and avoided a couple flipping cars on the initial start. When the green flag dropped, my car was working even better than before and I got all the way to 9th, 4 spots out of the transfer and gaining on others in front of me. Then a caution flag waved and after that I got tight on the restart and lost a few spots, ultimately finishing 12th. Although we did not have the weekend we wanted we now look forward to the 410 Knoxville Nationals with some more knowledge and experience. We will qualify Thursday and the top 16 in points from the qualifying nights will be locked into the Saturday Feature. The next 10 have the option of staying in their starting spot in the B on Saturday or come back on Friday. The rest will race a new show on Friday to determine starting spots for Saturday.

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