Strong weekend preps Flick and team for Outlaw Invasion!
Monday - July - 2017
Hello everyone. AJ Flick here. Thank you for reading! When I cannot get a professional release made, I will give everyone a personal write-up myself. Enjoy the weekend at Lernerville and Port Royal through my perspective!
Photo by Christopher Hockley, aka HIGH GROOVE DIZZLE.
Our weekend started off the typical way, at Lernerville Speedway for a Fab 4 show. We had a few more things we were trying to experiment with before the outlaws come to town this Tuesday, July 18th. Tracked slicked off early and we were trying to improve from our previous slick track issues. Lined up from the outside of row 3 for the heat race. Survived through a few cautions and ended up securing a 2nd place finish to make the redraw. My win from over a month ago was enforced and I was required to start 9th in the feature. The car worked relatively well and we drove to a solid 2nd place finish. We were catching the leader through lapped traffic, however, a caution with 3 to go all but eliminated our chances at getting a good passing chance on the fast Jack Sodeman. Nonetheless, we had a good points night and we will head into the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup as the points leader and have ourselves a guaranteed provisional.
Saturday was a tough day, mentally. We had multiple scenarios going through our heads. We went off to Port Royal with the intentions of running well, to continue testing, and trying to improve for the bigger races they have there in a few short weeks. We also went there knowing we needed to keep the car in one piece or we would not be able to make the Silver Cup on Tuesday. After another bad pill draw, we lined up 7th in heat 3. A few quick passes put us in 5th looking for more. Unfortunately, we got caught up in an accident that sent us spinning up across the track. We got clipped by another car and had to get towed off the speedway. The crew busted their butts and we got the car back together to run the consi. After starting and finished 3rd, we secured a spot in the main event. I lined up 21st on the grid. We were racing for 16th by lap 7 when the caution flag flew. The cars were lined up and the green flag flew again. However, our car never came back to life. We struggled to keep up with the cars we were just about to pass 1 lap before. We floated around in the 16th-20th position range but salvaged a 17th place finish when the checkered flew on lap 25. It was awesome to show speed early in the feature event and i was looking forward to what the car would present for me as the race wore on. Unfortunately, luck just wasnt on our side. We all have our heads up though and are ready for the next visit.
I wouldnt be able to do this without the amazing crew I have backing me. My father, mother, uncle, Rod Kacin, Dave Ferguson, Phil Long, Dakota Kuhns, and Brent Rumberger worked very hard to get this car fixed up after the heat race incident just to get me back onto the speedway and I couldnt be more thankful for the belief they have in me as a driver.
I also would not be able to do this without the continued support from my incredible sponsors. Thank you Ferguson Heating and Air Conditioning, Coopers RV Center, Chernega Construction, Fence by Maintenance Service, Stanfords Glass Service, JD Byrider, Champion, Showtime Designs, Townsend Gas and Oil, Alternative Power Sources, and the rest of my marketing partners!
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