Puyallup, Wash.—April 2, 2012 — After two consecutive weekend’s of having the originally scheduled Saturday night race interrupted by Mother Nature, it looked like Trey Starks would be in the same boat this past weekend, after the World of Outlaws event at Calistoga Speedway fell to rain. With the Calistoga event called off on Friday that gave Starks and his team a chance to head south to Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif., following the World of Outlaws event at Merced Speedway. The extra effort paid off, as the 16-year old recorded his best finish of the season, a third-place showing at the 3/8-mile.
“I was definitely happy with the way things turned out at Hanford,” shared Starks. “I got a good finish with a couple of strong drivers that know that track very well in Bud Kaeding and Craig Stidham in front of me. The crew at Hanford did a great job to get the race in. It pretty much was raining until the second we pushed off, so I’m glad we were able to race and get a strong finish.”
Starks was the first car out for qualifying at Kings Speedway on Saturday, March 31 and wound up turning the seventh-fastest lap of the 16 cars that were in attendance. He followed that up with a third-place finish in the first heat race, which lined him up fifth in the main event. He would gain a couple of spots over the course of the feature to finish third, behind winner Bud Kaeding and veteran Craig Stidham.
“Hanford has always been one of my favorite tracks,” said the native of Puyallup, Wash. “I’ve always done well there too. I have a few podium finishes over the last couple of seasons there and just always feel very comfortable racing at Hanford.”
Starks opened the weekend on Friday, March 30 with the World of Outlaws at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif., where he raced his way into the main event through the B-Main, and would finish 21st. The second-generation driver lined up 24th on the grid in the 40-lap contest and gained a couple of spots right at the drop of the green flag. He worked his way up to 18th just before the halfway point of the feature and ran in that position for a handful of laps, before falling back a couple of spots.
“They reshaped the track and it was kind of an odd configuration,” explained Starks. “The back straightaway was pushed out, so it was narrow getting off (turn) four and into (turn) one. It was a fun track and it actually got really abrasive and almost took rubber later in the night.”
Starks was 22nd in time trials at Merced, in what turned out to be the final race of the World of Outlaws early season West Coast swing. He lined up eighth in the first 10-lap heat and finished seventh, which put him in the B-Main. The young driver worked his way from the back of the B-Main, after contact near the halfway point to finish sixth and earn the final transfer spot for the main event.
“It was a relief when I got by (Robbie) Whitchurch on the high side coming off (turn) four for the final transfer spot,” noted Starks. “I thought I was going to breeze through the B-Main, starting fourth and then really had to work hard my way back up, but I was able to do it.”
Starks and his team will take this coming weekend off, and will return to the track the following weekend, with the date and location to be determined. To date, Trey has competed in eight races in 2012, five of which have been with the World of Outlaws. He has qualified for the main event in each one of his starts this season with the series, and twice has earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars in the main event.
“We’ve had a pretty good season so far, considering the competition that we have been racing with,” Starks said. “We certainly got familiar with scaring ourselves into the B-Main, and then making it into the feature. That’s given me an opportunity to race my way through and learn more about racing in traffic. I can’t wait to climb back in the car in a couple of weeks.”
Trey Starks and Starks Racing would like to thank their valued partners: BR Motorsports, FX Signs, King Racing Products, Masco Petroleum, Northwest Powerdercoating & Sandblasting, Starks Timber Processing and T&C Concepts.
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- Admin Account on Apr 03, 2012
- Article Date: 4/3/2012 by Starks Racing PR