(Photo courtesy of Batesville Motor Speedway)
Inside Line Promotions – LOCUST GROVE, Ark. (June 24, 2024) – Jordon Mallett executed a last-lap pass to score his first ASCS National Tour triumph of the season last Saturday at Batesville Motor Speedway.
It marked his second career win with the ASCS National Tour and the first for Brandon Anderson Motorsports – a team that Mallett has been driving for during the last month.
“The way I see it is it took about five races or so for us to get comfortable and consistent,” Mallett said. “We were up and down. Like we were fast, but sometimes not in the feature. At the ASCS National Tour Speedweek finale we finally put ourselves in a good spot as we were fast at the end just like we were in the beginning. Then at Batesville on Saturday we showed we could be good from hot laps all the way through. I was comfortable and we figured out some things and made smart decisions. It was a cumulative effort over the last month.”
Mallett qualified second quickest in his group before he won a heat race.
“I don’t have a lot of laps around Batesville even though it’s close to home,” he said. “I’d only been there a couple of times. We were good about any time we got on the track. The team worked hard all week and gave me a good race car from when we unloaded. We were quickest in hot laps by a good margin. We were faster in qualifying than in hot laps, but weren’t quick time in our group. Then we won the heat race to make sure we could get in the dash since we couldn’t fall back on our qualifying time. We had a really good race car and kept fine-tuning it. In the dash we ran third so we started the feature third. We kept working at the car and watching the track.
“We had a really good start to the feature. I knew (Matt) Covington would go to the top and I thought Sam (Hafertepe Jr.) would slide to protect. I got myself to second and jumped to the top. Sam set a really fast pace and we were able to match him. I didn’t know if we were the only ones matching him until after the race. The first 15 laps me and Sam had five seconds on third place. We had a lot of flexibility in the car as I was able to run the top or the bottom or float through the middle. When we got to traffic the dirty air didn’t bother us as we were consistent. We had a restart with 10 laps to go. When you’re running second you get the opportunity to search around a lot. I was able to maintain with Sam while I was searching the track. I knew that if we could maintain while searching we had a pretty good race car.
“When we came to the restart I had a really good start. He rolled through the middle to the top. I ducked to the bottom and found a strip of moisture and was able to take the lead for a lap. That track is a momentum race track. Once he got wound up through the middle he drove around me before I could get up to get my own momentum wound up. I jumped up and kept pace with him. Toward the end my car kept getting better. With about three laps to go I was noticing there were a couple of spots kinda high off both corners that had started to clean off quickly. I felt that could take a little bit of rubber.
“Coming to the white flag lap through turns three and four I thought we only had one more shot. I was able to really enter the corner hard and charge the corner. I went into the middle and hit that clean spot on exit. I gained really quick from five car lengths back to right behind him at the white flag. We both went into turn one at the middle to top of the track. I followed him in and got myself in my own clean air. I slowed my car down and got square and shot up and cleared him by the time we got to the back straightaway. I went through turns three and four and charged it really hard and caught that strip coming off.”
The last-lap pass resulted in Mallett’s first ASCS National Tour win since October 2021.
“I’m really pleased to get back to Victory Lane with the ASCS National Tour and to be a part of the Anderson’s first National win,” he said. “It was also really meaningful to be able to pass Sam, who is one of the best 360 racers in the country, to earn the victory.”
Mallett will venture to Tulsa Speedway in Tulsa, Okla., this Friday and Saturday for the ASCS National Series Dirt Down in T-Town with the ASCS National Tour. He placed fifth at the track in July 2022 during his only appearance.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 22 – Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove, Ark – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 3 (4); Feature: 1 (3).
SEASON STATS –
11 races, 2 wins, 5 top fives, 9 top 10s, 10 top 15s, 11 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Tulsa Speedway in Tulsa, Okla., for the ASCS National Series Dirt Down in T-Town with the ASCS National Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://jordonmallett.myracepass.com
X: https://twitter.com/jmmotorsports14
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordonmallettmotorsports
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – KSE Racing Products
KSE Racing Products has been manufacturing premium oval track racing products for more than 35 years. All of its products are proudly built in the USA by a talented team of craftsmen at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility just north of Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit http://www.KSE-Racing.com.
“Dan and Dave at KSE Racing Products have taken care of our steering needs for as long as I can remember,” Mallett said. “It’s been first-class service all the way. They always have top-notch service and a quick turnaround.”
Mallett would like to thank Awakening Events, Awakening Foundation, Water for Christ, Porter Commercial Refrigeration, Red River Rack Co., D&K Farms, Powers HVAC, DHR Suspension, Racing Optics, Triple X Race Co., KSE Racing Products, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Sinco, Inc., Autometer, Callies Racing Products, DynoTech Race Engines, Hero Graphics, Hilborn Fuel Injection, ISC Racers Tape, K&N Engineering, Lone Star Super Gas (Sunoco), HRP Wings, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Smiley’s Racing Products, MetTec Titanium, MotorState Distributing, DMI, Fast 5 Solutions and Superior Bearing and Supply for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jun 24, 2024
- Article Date: 6/24/2024 by Inside Line Promotions