(Photo by Tim's Racing Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – BELLEVILLE, Ill. (June 10, 2014) – Andrew Felker was half a lap from claiming his first career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Illinois SPEED Week title before disaster struck last Sunday.
Driving for RW Motorsports, Felker had recorded a pair of top-four finishes in the first two SPEED Week races. He entered Sunday’s feature at Belle-Clair Speedway in contention for the title and after battling throughout the 30-lap race with a handful of drivers for a spot just outside the top five, Felker took the white flag with the trophy in sight.
“We weren’t in contention to win the race, but we were right there to win SPEED Week,” he said. “We were all two, three wide. When (Zach) Daum spun that would have gave the title to us.”
Felker avoided the crash, which spun Daum entering turn one on the final lap, and he was cruising down the backstretch when another driver plowed into him.
“The workers on the backstretch had yellow flags out when Daum got spun,” he said. “The race should have went under yellow for a green-white-checkered finish.”
Unfortunately, Felker was involved in a crash of his own less than half a lap from the finish line and he was credited with an 18th-place result to end his bid for the SPEED Week crown.
“We’re disappointed with the results on the last night, but overall it was a good experience and hopefully we can team up with RW Motorsports to do some more racing,” he said.
The weekend began last Thursday at Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Ill., where Felker made his debut by advancing from third to second place in his heat race. That started him on the inside of the seventh row for the main event.
“They reworked the track,” he said. “The whole race I worked the bottom in turns one and two and the top in turns three and four. Track position kinda hurt us there.”
Felker maneuvered from 13th to finish fourth, which marked his fourth top five of the season.
On Friday, Felker and the RW Motorsports team tackled Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Ill. Felker advanced from ninth to third place in his heat race, which started him on the inside of the third row for the feature.
“The track was really slick and started to take rubber before the race started,” he said. “I tried the top for a little bit and fell back to 10th about 10 laps in. Then I worked our way back up toward the front on the bottom at both ends. I started picking them off running the bottom in turns one and two and the top in turns three and four.”
Felker rallied to score a third-place result – his second podium of the year and first in the United States.
Saturday’s race at Macon Speedway in Macon, Ill., rained out.
Felker will return to his midget for the USAC Honda National Midget Series Indiana Midget Week, which runs this Wednesday at Gas City I-69 Speedway in Gas City, Ind.; Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind.; Friday at Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Ind.; Saturday at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind.; and Sunday at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Ind.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 5 – Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Ill. – Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 4 (13).
June 6 – Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Ill. – Heat race: 3 (9); Feature: 3 (5).
June 8 – Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill. – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 18 (10).
SEASON STATS –
23 races, 0 wins, 5 top fives, 14 top 10s, 17 top 15s, 18 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Wednesday at Gas City I-69 Speedway in Gas City, Ind.; Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind.; Friday at Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Ind.; Saturday at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind.; and Sunday at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Ind., for the USAC Honda National Midget Series Indiana Midget Week
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.AndrewFelkerRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewFelker11a
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewFelkerRacing
APPAREL –
Felker has t-shirts for sale at each of his races. To view his race schedule, visit http://www.AndrewFelkerRacing.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Engler Machine & Tool, Inc.
Established in 1980, Engler Machine & Tool, Inc., builds fuel injection systems, custom made pulling chassis, gears, shafts, specialty CNC products, racing engines and some custom machining. For more information, visit http://www.EnglerMachine.com.
“I’ve been with Engler Machine & Tool for three and a half years now and you can’t get better customer service than Engler,” Felker said. “I wouldn’t drive a race car without Engler injection on it.”
Felker would also like to thank 66 Truck & Foreign Salvage, Auto Xpress, MelMark Pipe & Supply, Fontana Automotive, Momo’s Racing Engines, CSI Shocks, Schluckebier Farms, Pro Powder Coating, All-Pro Auto Interiors, Aggressive Graphics, KBR Performance, Weld Wheels, KMK Enterprises, Heath II, Wilwood, Maxim Racewear, Leading Edge Composites and Liquid Nitro 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 and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jun 10, 2014
- Article Date: 6/10/2014 by Inside Line Promotions