Inside Line Promotions – West Siloam Springs, Okla. (Aug. 1, 2017) – Rookie driver Zane Hendricks charged to his first career midget feature win on Friday night at Flint Creek Speedway during a POWRi Lucas Oil West Midget Series event.
The 17-year-old took the lead early in the race and then fended off a stiff challenge on the final lap for the victory.
Hendricks was faced with challenging conditions on his first visit to the track.
“The track was really dry for hot laps,” he said. “It was so dusty going into turn three that you couldn’t see at all. I really only got to hot lap in turns one and two because I had to get off the gas going into turn three and putt around until I could see again.”
The addition of water prior to the heat races helped ease the dusty conditions as Hendricks finished fourth after starting fifth. That lined him up in the sixth starting position for the 20-lap feature. A pair of first-lap red flags in the main event eventually moved him up to the fourth starting spot before a lap was completed.
“They added some more water before the feature and the car was handling great,” he said. “Once we got going, I was able to get the lead after about two or three laps.
“There were a lot of yellows. I was usually able to pull away after each restart and build up a decent lead only to use it to another yellow. I don’t think I ran more than six or seven green flag laps at a time.”
A final restart set up a green-white-checkered finish.
“When we were going to the checkered the guy in second got a run on me going into turn three and got underneath me,” he said. “We got together and he kind of knocked me up and out of the way. But I was still able to stay in front of him and get the win. I think he almost spun himself out from that and had to get out of the gas so he was a ways behind at the finish.”
While Flint Creek Speedway was another track that Hendricks visited for the first time, he’s often had the help of a veteran driver at many of those tracks he’s raced this year.
“We’re fortunate to be good friends with the Loyets,” he said. “Brad raced at Flint Creek a long time ago and he gave me his setup and gearing notes for the track. That helps a lot. It was pretty spot on. Brad’s help has been great whenever we go to a new track because he’s run so many of them in a midget. He has notes on just about all of them in the middle part of the country.
“I’m also really thankful for all my sponsors and my family for making this possible. Most of the time it’s just me and my dad, but my mom and my sister are there almost every race and help when they can.”
Hendricks will return to action this Friday and Saturday at Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and POWRi Lucas Oil West Midget Series.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 28 – Flint Creek Speedway in West Siloam Springs, Okla. – Heat race: 4 (5); Feature: 1 (6).
SEASON STATS –
15 races, 1 win, 4 top fives, 6 top 10s, 8 top 15s, 8 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and POWRi Lucas Oil West Midget Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.ZaneHendricks.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hendricks_zane
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Zanehendricksracing/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – CK Power
CK Power is a leading manufacturer of power units and power generation solutions for a variety of markets and customers. CK Power is also a proud distributor and authorized service provider of Kohler Power Systems. Their mission is to continually expand and improve their power solutions product offering. For more information, visit http://www.CKPower.com.
“I’m really thankful for CK Power coming on board with us recently,” Hendricks said. “They’ve already helped even though they’ve only been with us for about a week. They’re in St. Louis and they’re going to have some people at our next race in Pevely and we’re looking forward to that. I’m glad we were able to start off our partnership with a win.”
Hendricks would also like to thank Vacuworx, Shorty’s Machine Shop, Momentum Racing Suspensions, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, BP Fab, Walker Performance Filtration, Esslinger, Eagle Motorsports, Intruder Chassis and Outlaw Wings 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 Aug 01, 2017
- Article Date: 8/1/2017 by Inside Line Promotions