4/5/2015
Joshua Hodges
First Win of 2015 and Copper on Dirt Review
After a rocky start to the season we have strung together a few solid runs and got our first win of the year at Sandia Speedway on Saturday (April 4th).
We raced two cars at the Copper on Dirt in Tucson, AZ March 20th and 21st. We really struggled in the winged car to start the year but after a practice night we got the car better and made the A Feature with the ASCS Southwest 360s both nights. The first night I moved forward a bit after winning the ‘B’ but packed the right rear wheel full of mud and created a violent shake. I managed to run 13th but I think we had a better car than that. The second night with the winged car I started 10th and backed up on the initial start a few spots but got in a rhythm and moved my way back up to 8th by the end of the race. The car was better that I was in the seat and I’m looking forward to driving that car again to see if we can make it even better. In the USAC CRA 410 we had a really good weekend for the most part. The first night I made the invert and started on the front row. The track was inches off the fence in several spots and had a tall curb. I slipped back on the start to about 4th before making my way to 3rd again about 20 laps in. I was on Bacon’s bumper looking for 2nd when the leader caught the cushion and turned over. With three to go on the restart I took the lead and held it until the last corner when Bacon got by me on the low side. It was a terrific run considering who we were racing with but I was a bit disappointed not being able to get the win. On Saturday, we were just as fast but had to start 11th after qualifying late in the order. From the green I started moving forward on almost identical track conditions. By about halfway I was in 4th but a little less than a half track behind the leaders. In the next 5-10 laps the car really started working and I was able to run them down in lapped traffic and actually pass for third. I was just behind Gardner and Darland with about 5 laps to go when I pushed the limit of the curb and got upside down. It was 100% driver error on my part, and I was disappointed again but I feel like we definitely proved that weekend that we can run up front with the nonwing car, no matter where we go.
As I mentioned previously, we raced this past Saturday at Sandia Speedway with the NMMRA nonwing guys and were able to get the first win of the year. It wasn’t easy though; during the heat race the motor went down a cylinder and I was lucky to keep the lead and win it around the bottom. We got back in the pits and made a 20 minute motor change and actually drew the pole for the A Feature. I was able to grab the lead through turns three and four on the first lap and held on to the lead through the whole race. Early the car was really good but as the race went on and there were more cautions the handling went away and there was a good charge from Jason Grady at the end. We learned a few things we could do and another few things we shouldn’t do. Now we look forward to the World of Outlaws two day event at Devil’s Bowl Speedway the end of April!
A big thank you goes out to my family, Dan Appel, Ray Bishop, Scott Horner, and Carson Horner for their work at the racetrack. Also want a give a shout out to Johnny Herrera for helping with a few pointers since we’d been struggling.
Submitted By: Jack Hodges
