11/4/2014
Joshua Hodges
A November Full of Racing Ahead for Hodges Motorsports
While other race tracks and teams are shutting down in the colder climates of America we are just getting started in the Southwest! November marks a month full of racing for us with four two-day weekends in a row. We’ll get it all started this Friday night when we head south to El Paso Speedway Park with the ASCS National Tour. The following day we’ll head to Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, NM to finish the weekend off. These two events mark the first time I’ll be behind the wheel of a winged 360 in over a year so there will be some adjustment coming off a predominantly nonwinged season for us. However, we still have raced 12 times the wing this year (all with the 410) so I’m hoping I can knock that rust off quickly.
From there we’ll regroup and head west to Canyon Speedway Park to run the Hall of Fame Classic with the USAC National sprint cars the 14th and 15th. Our only other nonwing 410 event of the year came with USAC Cra at the Copper Classic, also at Canyon, back in February. We were able to race to a top 5 earning Hard Charger back then and I’m hoping I can figure out qualifying so we can put ourselves in a better position.
The following weekend we’ll also be at Canyon Speedway Park for Western World and I am really looking forward to those two days. We haven’t finished outside the top 10 in 8 starts at Canyon this year and we’re coming off of 3 local nonwing wins in a row so I have a lot of confidence in our car right now without the wing and the Ostrich 360 under the hood.
After that we’ll wrap the month up Thanksgiving weekend back in our home state at Southern New Mexico Speedway again for two more nonwing 360 events with the winner pocketing $10,000 on Saturday night. It’s going to be a fun month of racing for sure and I’m thinking we have a good shot at running well everywhere we go.
We’re also welcoming champion mechanic/crew chief Mark Matejka on board for these next few races and I’m excited to have his insight and experience with us as we try to dial ourselves in. He has worked with and won midget championships with notable drivers such as Gary Taylor and Keith Rauch, and he also won an ASCS Rocky Mountain Series championship with our good friend Derrik Ortega back in 2008. Needless to say he will certainly help us get the car just right so it will be up to me to get it done behind the wheel and give him good feedback.
To keep up with us, like our “Josh Hodges Racing” Facebook page and follow me on Twitter at @JoshHodgesRacin. I will post as many updates as I can through the nights, time permitting.
Submitted By: Jack Hodges