(Photo by Rick Rarer)
Inside Line Promotions – TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 22, 2016) – Caleb Helms got off to a hot start last weekend during the Ronald Laney Memorial at East Bay Raceway Park.
Unfortunately, Helms was caught up in a crash while running second during the opening preliminary night at the prestigious event last Thursday.
“We were second fastest in hot laps,” he said. “As the night went on the track was coming to us. We barely made any adjustments.”
Helms, who won his heat race after starting on the outside of the front row, quickly advanced from fourth to second place on the first lap of the main event. He then stalked leader Aaron Reutzel for the first half of the 25-lap feature.
“I wasn’t stellar off the corners, but we were right there with him,” he said. “He was running around the cushion as far as it had widened out. I was feeling pretty good right around three-quarters up the track. He got a little gap and then we closed it in big time when we got to traffic. He wasn’t as good moving around as we were. I was starting to pick up my pace because I knew we were getting halfway when I ran in behind a lapped car, who checked up when they heard the yellow. It was abrupt.”
Helms was about to pass the lapped car entering turn three when a caution was waved. That driver quickly slowed down and Helms had nowhere to go. He crashed into the back of the lapped car and the impact knocked Helms out of the race.
“It destroyed the car,” he said after finishing 17th. “It was all bent over. We had to get the other car out for the rest of the weekend.”
The backup car didn’t handle as well for Helms starting on Friday, when he finished fourth in both a heat race and a B Main to start 19th in the main event.
“We weren’t nearly as comfortable as we were the first night,” he said. “The track got wetter as the weekend went on. I was having a really hard time getting the car to enter (the corners). From the entrance through the exit of the corners I wasn’t feeling like the car was sticking.”
Helms advanced to a 15th-place result.
He wrapped up the event on Saturday by finishing second in a heat race to lock into the 12th starting position for the 40-lap main event.
“We had the same problem as Friday,” he said. “We did a little to help ourselves out, but it still wasn’t handling very well. I had a hard time putting laps together.”
Helms ended with a 15th-place finish for the second straight night.
QUICK RESULTS –
Feb. 18 – East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Fla. – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 17 (4).
Feb. 19 – East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Fla. – Heat race: 4 (5); B Main: 4 (4); Feature: 15 (19).
Feb. 20 – East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Fla. – Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 15 (12).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 3 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://HelmsRacing40.wix.com/HelmsRacing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Helms40
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Helms.Motorsports
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“Shelves.com has been a big part of the team for a couple of years and we look forward to taking them to Victory Lane this season,” Helms said.
Helms would also like to thank Helms Construction Inc., Helms and Sons Excavating, Kistler Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers and Larson Trucking & Heavy Equipment Repair 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 Feb 22, 2016
- Article Date: 2/22/2016 by Inside Line Promotions