(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – BILLINGS, Mont. (Sept. 22, 2015) – Trey Starks capitalized on an opportunity to do double duty last weekend in Montana.
“Doug Rutz called me and asked if I wanted to go run his 360ci sprint car and sportsman sprint car in Montana,” he said. “Along with getting to run four races, it was also a good paying event. Plus it was a track I’d never been to. I love seeing new tracks. Seat time is the most important thing. You want to get to as many different tracks you can because you learn different things at all of them.”
Starks gave up his opportunity to wrap up the track championship at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., by heading east to race on Friday and Saturday at Billings Motorsports Park with the ASCS Frontier Region.
“I think we made the right decision,” he said. “We had a great weekend in the sportsman car. We just didn’t have any luck in the 360.”
Starks swept the weekend in the sportsman class. He won a heat race from the pole on Friday before charging from sixth to second place in a heat on Saturday. Both results lined him up on the front row for the feature and Starks took advantage.
“The sportsman was all about getting the lead on the opening lap and running a smooth race,” he said. “Both nights we got the lead on the start. The car was handling perfect. I just had to hit my marks and not do anything stupid. Everything was working so well.”
The two feature victories give him five for the season, which sets a season high for Starks.
Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t fare as well in the 360 sprint car.
“On Friday we drew a high number and the track wasn’t racy,” he said. “It was one lane and wide open. There wasn’t really any passing. I got by a couple of cars that I could. We were just lined up nose to tail.”
Starks advanced from ninth to seventh place in his heat race, which lined him up on the outside of the third row for the B Main.
“In the B Main we were running fifth,” he said. “I knew I needed one more spot to make it into the feature. I was trying to be patient. Unfortunately two guys tangled and I thought I had it missed. Somehow they got untangled and from out of nowhere one of them came flying into me. We got caught up into it and it ended our night. It was really frustrating.”
Starks was also derailed by a crash on Saturday with the ASCS Frontier Region. After winning his heat race and starting fifth in the main event, Starks was running third midway through the feature.
“We got a caution around Lap 15,” he said. “The track was pretty top dominant. Any pass that was made had to be with a slide job. I went into turn one on the bottom to protect. We got into turn three on the top. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a car coming at me really fast. I knew there was no way he’d get it stopped in time. We got booted off the end of the track. I think he just misjudged on that one.”
The impact ended the night early for Starks, who was credited with a 17th-place result.
He is slated to return to his family car this Friday and Saturday at Central Washington State Fair Speedway in Yakima, Wash., where Starks will wrap up the inaugural Western Sprint Tour championship.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 18 – Billings Motorsports Park in Billings, Mont. (360 sprint) – Heat race: 7 (9); B Main: DNF (6).
Sept. 18 – Billings Motorsports Park in Billings, Mont. (sportsman sprint) – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (1).
Sept. 19 – Billings Motorsports Park in Billings, Mont. (360 sprint) – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 17 (5).
Sept. 19 – Billings Motorsports Park in Billings, Mont. (sportsman sprint) – Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 1 (2).
SEASON STATS –
54 races, 5 wins, 24 top fives, 29 top 10s, 37 top 15s, 46 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Central Washington State Fair Speedway in Yakima, Wash., with the Western Sprint Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Starks55Trey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreyStarksRacing?fref=ts
APPAREL –
Starks has t-shirts and hoodies for sale at http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Starks Timber Processing
Starks Timber Processing is a logging business owned by Trey’s father, John, who is a third-generation logger. It has been based out of Washington for more than 15 years.
“Starks Timber Processing is what provides me the opportunity to race,” Trey said. “It has played a huge role in my life, both on the track and away from it.”
Starks would also like to thank Southstar Equipment, Blue Dot Fabrications, SpeedMart, King Racing Products, Masco Petroleum, RCC Powder Coating and Emory Transmission 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 Sep 22, 2015
- Article Date: 9/22/2015 by Inside Line Promotions