(Photo by Paul Arch)
Inside Line Promotions – OCALA, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2018) – The opening weekend of the season gave Caleb Helms and his race team a list of things to focus on improving.
“We had some good moments and some forgettable moments,” he said. “I think qualifying is so critical and if you get behind then you’ll likely be behind the remainder of the night.”
Helms qualified well last Thursday during the opening night of the Bubba Army Winter Nationals at Bubba Raceway Park, which hosted the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions tripleheader. He timed in third quickest in his group, which lined him up on the outside of the front row for a heat race.
“We got a good start and took off into the lead, but the car felt worse as the race went on,” he said. “We dropped to second about midway through the race and then to third a couple of laps later.”
Helms placed third to miss a spot in the dash by only one position. It lined him up on the inside of the sixth row for the main event.
“The track was super slick and we struggled in the main event,” he said. “We actually backed up quite a bit, but I tried to race smart. We were able to avoid a lot of messes on the track and thanks to some attrition worked into the top 10.”
Helms scored a 10th-place finish to cap the opening race of the season.
He returned to the oval the ensuing night and timed in eighth quickest in his group. Helms advanced from eighth to seventh in a heat race before he finished 10th in the B Main.
“We made a car change following the first two nights,” he said. “We were running a car we had some good results in last year, but it was a real struggle. When the track had moisture and grip we were ok, but once it slicked off we were in trouble. So we brought down our spare, which was a new car.”
The event wrapped up on Saturday with the team facing another new obstacle after making the car change. A driveline problem in hot laps had the team scrambling prior to qualifying, when Helms timed in seventh in his group. He then placed sixth in a heat race and third in the B Main to transfer into the back of the A Main. Helms rallied from 23rd to 15th in the feature as he passed the second-most cars.
“If you look strictly at the results from the weekend it wasn’t anything to brag about, but if you look at our progress throughout the weekend I think we can smile,” he said. “Bubba Raceway Park is a really challenging track and while we didn’t get the results we wanted, we gained on some areas and learned a couple of things that should help the next time we race there.”
Helms is scheduled to return to action this Wednesday through Sunday at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the DIRTcar Nationals with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series. Helms recorded his career-best DIRTcar Nationals result of 13th last year.
QUICK RESULTS –
Feb. 1 – Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 3 (2); Feature: 10 (11).
Feb. 2 – Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 7 (8); B Main: 10 (7).
Feb. 3 – Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. – Qualifying: 7; Heat race: 6 (7); B Main: 3 (5); Feature: 15 (23).
SEASON STATS –
3 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top 10, 2 top 15s, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Wednesday through Sunday at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the DIRTcar Nationals with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions and the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://HelmsRacing40.wix.com/HelmsRacing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Helms40
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Helms.Motorsports
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Helms Construction Inc.
Helms Construction Inc. is a general construction company based in Findlay, Ohio.
“Helms Construction Inc. is my father’s business, which helps us get from race to race,” Helms said. “The people who make Helms Construction Inc. successful are the ones who make this opportunity possible for us. My dad is the only reason I have had the opportunity to race and everything I’ve accomplished so far is directly related to him.”
Helms would also like to thank Big Jerk Jerky, Ferguson, Leiber’s Garage and Helms and Sons Excavating 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 06, 2018
- Article Date: 2/6/2018 by Inside Line Promotions