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HMS Update - 45th Annual Western World

The 2012 racing season has come to a close for us here at Hodges Motorsports, wrapping up with the 45th Annual Western World Championships in Peoria, AZ at Canyon Speedway Park. Originally I was supposed to drive Ryan Linder’s nonwing car but unfortunately I wrecked the car on practice night so we pulled down our other car and put it together for the nonwing portion with his motor. On Thursday night we qualified the nonwing car and after having a bad pill draw, I started towards the back of my heat and raced up to 5th. The car wasn’t great and I was also still getting comfortably but we moved forward. In the qualifier I would start 5th and finish 3rd behind Clauson and Davis. Those points put together set me up to start 13th and I fought a tight racecar all feature long to finish 10th. We didn’t get locked in to Saturday’s show and we felt there were some improvements in the car we needed to make. In the wing car on Friday we had a much better night up until the end. I started and finished 2nd in the heat race but was running down the leader at the end. The car felt as good as it ever had. In the qualifier I was scheduled to start on the pole next to ASCS National champion Jason Johnson but after I was told I jumped the start, I was moved back a row to start 3rd. I was still able to get a great jump on the start, driving into 2nd going into turn one. After a few laps I figured out my car’s strengths and was able to start reeling in the leader, Brian Brown. I wasn’t able to get the win but I managed to get within a car length or two of the leader at the end of the 8 lap qualifier and I set myself up well in points, putting me 4th to start the feature. It was by far my best starting position in an ASCS National event and I hoped to take advantage of it. On the initial start I would fall into line 5th with Brian Brown, Jason Johnson, Justin Henderson and Tony Bruce Jr. in front of me laps and the car was feeling really good. About ten laps in I was able to make the pass for 4th on the bottom and the car seemed to be getting even better. The track had moisture on the bottom up to the middle and was slick on top but some could still carry some momentum and run upstairs. Approaching lap traffic, I was able to close on third place Tony Bruce, getting my nose inside of him a couple times before the caution came out. Rolling under yellow just before going green I felt the right rear corner of the car drop because I ran over something, cutting the tire down. After that I was just hanging on to a very ill handling car until it got down to the rim and I had to pull off with 3 laps to go. It was really tough to have something like that happen when contending for a podium finish and being in position to be locked into the Saturday night feature. We moved on to Saturday, though, determined to put both cars in the show and confident after our good run. In the nonwing car I pulled another terrible pill to start on the back row of my heat and in the last few laps I managed to drive my way up to 5th on a narrow race track. The car was tremendously better from the night previous and with the passing points I was able to get a 3rd place starting spot for the B main. The top 3 transferred out of each B to the A feature and after getting help up in 3rd and 4th early, I was able to make some moves and get to 2nd spot with about 4 laps to go. The leader was over 1.5 seconds ahead of me but the car was working well and at the checkered flag I was able to catch him and get my nose under him off of turn 4, finishing 2nd and transferring to the A feature. The car was really fast but by the main event the track narrowed up a lot to a cushion in which I was only able to make my way to 15th. In the wing car I started 4th in my heat race and had a good feeling about the night ahead. On the start I fell in line 4th and after the first few laps I was able to get by for 3rd on a narrow, fast track. I then went to work on 2nd place but was only able to pull next to him, finishing 3rd. The points from the night before gave me a good starting spot in the B main, where I started 2nd outside of Travis Rilat. In the B the track had gotten to be slick except for the bottom groove. I wasn’t able to get to the front on the initial start but I was able to cut under Rilat off of turn 2 and grab the lead on the first lap. From there on I was able to lead every lap and get the B main win and transfer to the A feature. Unfortunately, I was not able to make very many laps in the A feature after spinning into the infield on the second lap. I was not able re-enter the track and I did not finish the night. Even though the results didn’t show it, I had by far my best weekend behind the wheel of a sprint car with a high caliber set of racers so I am really excited for what 2013 has in store. I have to thank Napa Auto Parts, Momentum Racing Suspensions, Mesilla Valley Transportation, K & N Filters, ButlerBuilt Seats, FK Rod Ends, Smiley’s Racing Products, Wilwood Brakes, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, and all of my sponsors for their support this year and in past years. I also have to thank Ryan Linder for giving me the opportunity to drive his car this past weekend and also Chuck Whitney for his help and advice as well. Special thanks also go out to my family, Manny, Annette, and Derrik Ortega, Johnny, Joe, Martha, and Carla Herrera, and Mark Rosborough for their tremendous support and help throughout my racing career and in life. Hoping for a terrific new year and I’d like to wish everybody a happy holidays!

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