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Hodges Motorsports 2016 Year End Recap

The 2016 season was our best yet here at Hodges Motorsports and, as it comes to a close, we are excited for our opportunity to build on it in 2017. It couldn’t have been accomplished without the tremendous effort from my dad Jack Hodges, my mom Linda Hodges, our crew chief Jake Argo, our engine builder/tuner Jerry Gibson, and crew member Dan Appel. I also want to give a shout out to my girlfriend Vanessa for her unwavering support and give a thank you to every person that helped us at or away from the race track throughout the year; Thanks to Cal, David, Amber, Kaci, and Levi Landis, Jeremy Hodges, Mark Rosborough, Collin Horner, Derrik Ortega, George Lane and family, Sam McGhee, and finally a big thank you to Jon and Melinda Stanbrough for allowing us to work out of their shop again when we were back in Indiana.

Our year started at the Winter Challenge at Canyon Speedway with a couple of top 5 finishes and some strong showings coming off a preliminary Western World 360 feature win at the end of 2015. However, it was the third night that got the ball rolling for the year and it’s a race I won’t forget. Starting from the 11th spot I knew right away we had our car working but I also knew that we had RJ Johnson, Charles Davis, and the late Bryan Clauson in front of us and that was a tall task. With a few cautions breaking our way and a bad fast race car, we were able to pick our way to the front and ultimately come out on top in a battle with Clauson and Johnson at the end. That felt like my most hard fought win at the time but little did I know that we would be fortunate enough to duel once again with Clauson the very next weekend where we barely held him off for the Winter Challenge Finale victory. We left Phoenix in January with two wins and went 5 for 5 in top five finishes.

Our season then turned to the 410 car for the most part with a March trip to Las Vegas and Perris. While we continued our top five streak, we didn’t ultimately perform like we would’ve hoped but that changed when we returned to Perris in April to score our first 410 win in the So-Cal Showdown with USAC Cra, starting from 15th and making the winning pass on the last lap. We then ventured back to Indiana for another taste of nonwing heaven. While there were some downs along the way, our strong performances out west seemed to translate across the Mississippi River with top tens in all of our races but two before Indiana Sprintweek. I correlate our success with our sharp team of guys including my father on the wrenches and Jake Argo making the calls all year; they both gave me the tools and the car to compete for wins each and every night. That early stretch when we first came back included a dream-come-true win as well; a triumph on Father’s Day at the famed Kokomo Speedway. I almost couldn’t believe it, battling up front with a hero of mine in Jerry Coons Jr. and thinking about the amazing races I’ve seen on the internet and tv there, also having raced there in 2015. It’s safe to say we were feeling pretty confident we could compete for top tens during Indiana Sprintweek.

This sport has a way of humbling you, though, and it sure did in our first two stops at Gas City and Kokomo. Missing the A Feature and breaking the cam on respective nights set us back but we still forged on to Lawrenceburg Speedway, a place I would come to love over the season. With a good qualifying effort due in part to our stellar Jerry Gibson powerplant and transfer through the heat, we positioned ourselves to be battling for the lead with, you guessed it, Bryan Clauson once again through the middle of the race. I tried working the bottom too long, however, and slipped back to a 5th place finish, but it felt like we got back on track again. We wrapped up Sprintweek on a decent note squeezing out a 7th place run at Bloomington, a poor track for me, and ending with a Quick Time and an 11th run with an ill handling car at Tri-State Speedway.

Soon after that I had to go back to school and we still got to race but not quite as much as before. Within the time our 410 car was in Indiana, we sneaked in a trip on the Freedom Tour with USAC Southwest and was able to score a win at Dodge City Raceway Park along with a 2nd and 3rd in the three nights. We also continued to add to our top ten column with no finishes outside the top ten between Indiana Sprintweek and Western World in November. That string of finishes included a local win, a BOSS win, and our first USAC National victory in the $10,000 to win Fall Nationals, all at Lawrenceburg Speedway. I look back at that USAC win with amazement knowing we raced with a legend in Dave Darland and Chris Windom, who would go on to claim the Silver Crown title this year and go on a hot streak in all forms of USAC competition to end the year.

While we had a dream season, it didn’t quite end the way we hoped it would at Western World and the Oval Nationals in November for a number of reasons. To start with, rain fell on the Arizona Speedway providing a very fast but tough track to pass on and our pill draws did not help us in the 360 portion, having to start deep in heat races. In the 410 it seemed we just could not qualify the same way we had all year and that set us back both nights. Even still, on Saturday we were able to get two more top tens, a 7th in the 360 and a 10th in 410 before heading to Perris Auto Speedway the next week. Once again it seemed like we were off qualifying, but also racing and we scratched our heads the first two nights, making the feature but only managing an 15th and 13th. The final night, we changed the steering gear and also combed through all our other racing operations to try and steer the ship back again and I would say it worked, showing speed with a 3rd place qualifying run and knowing that we were moving forward early in the A Feature before I got greedy with my corner entry in turn 1 and stood the car on two wheels into the fence, ending our night prematurely. It left a sour taste in our mouths but looking back at what we did, I am extremely proud of what we accomplished this year tallying 8 wins in 40 starts along with 22 top fives and 28 top tens.

This incredible year for us could not have been possible without the generous support and partnership of all our sponsors. I want to give a shout out to Chuck Jackson at Jackson Compaction, Royal Jones with Mesilla Valley Transportation, and Manny and Annette Ortega with Ortega’s Appliance for their continued support throughout the years and I’m glad we were able to have some success for you all this year; we are not settling though and looking to improve even more in 2017. I want to give a shout out to the rest of our sponsors as well: Hodges Automotive, Maxim Racing, CSI Shocks, K&N, ButlerBulit, Wilwood, Hinchman, FK Rod Ends, Keizer, Hoosier Midwest, Indy Race Parts, Parts Plus, Wix Filters, The Oil Medics, JE Pistons, and Total Seal. I’ve said it time and time again but I am thankful for God blessing our race team with a safe year and I’m pumped to get going again after the first of the year. Everybody enjoy the holidays and God bless!

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