10/20/2013
Joshua Hodges
HMS Update - Devil's Bowl Speedway
This weekend didn’t turn out like we had hoped at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. It started with a rained out Friday night portion of the Winter Nationals and last night it ended with a torn up race car. I pulled pill 64 to start out the evening which put me starting 7th in the 6th heat race. By that time the track was slick top to bottom and we made some adjustments to compensate but they weren’t enough. I struggled in the heat but due to a wreck I was able to finish 4th and claim the last starting spot in the A-feature. It took a bit of luck but we were in and I was hoping to capitalize on it. In the feature the track was pretty similar and about halfway through it started taking some rubber on corner exit and down the straightaways. I fell back on the initial start in the outside lane, and it took me awhile to get to the preferred bottom groove. Once I got there I wasn’t bad but I was a bit too aggressive on corner entry which hurt my drive off the corner. About halfway through a car got sideways in front of me down the backstretch and I tried my best to miss him but I ended up clipping my LR with his front bumper. That sent me up on my side and from there I was along for the ride. While I was off the ground I got hit by another car that had nowhere to go and that created some more damage. During the wreck the bell and u-joint came apart and I was fortunate that it did not get into my legs and tear them up. I felt it touch my leg once and when the car was coming to a stop I tried to get my feet out of the way. I’m not sure if I got them up enough but luckily it didn’t come over into them. We have a torn up car but I’m thankful that I was able to walk away. I got to give a shout out to ButlerBuilt Seats for it doing its job and all the other safety equipment as well. It looks like we’ll still be able to go for the USAC National Hall of Fame Classic at Canyon Speedway Park next week but I’m not sure what we’ll be doing after that. A big thanks to my dad, John Stroud, and Mark Rosborough for their tremendous effort and support this weekend.
Submitted By: Jack Hodges