(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (June 25, 2018) – Trey Starks improved his result each night during the 47th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup last weekend at Skagit Speedway.
Starks made the feature during all three nights of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by SawBlade.com event, which he capped with an eighth-place finish on Saturday.
“It seems like every Dirt Cup is the same,” he said. “We just can’t put an entire weekend together. We have speed, but something always ends up happening. It’s not a terrible end result, but it could have been better.”
Starks powered from fifth to second place in a heat race on Thursday. However, contact in a qualifier relegated him to a seventh-place result. He then won a B Main before finishing where he started – 18th – in the A Main.
“We got squeezed into the wall in the qualifier and bent some stuff up,” he said. “I was able to limp it to the finish. We didn’t get a good finish and that didn’t give us many points, which is what Dirt Cup is all about.
“We didn’t make the adjustments we needed to and a little lack of aggression on my part hurt us in the feature. There were times on the track where we could have gained several spots. Instead of gaining a couple we’d lose a couple. I was trying to play it safe, but it didn’t work out.”
Friday appeared to roll better as Starks finished second in a heat race and fourth in a qualifier to lock into the A Main. He was battling for a top 10 late in the race when contact with another competitor resulted in a wild flip for Starks.
“I was following Blake Hahn and he was jumping the cushion and getting out of shape,” he said. “He kept doing it and I was trying to figure out when to make my move. He jumped the cushion and took a hard left across us. When I turned left it was right into Logan (Forler’s) right rear and we flipped. That really hurt us in points and it got the car pretty good.”
Starks was credited with a 14th-place finish. His team rebuilt the race car for Saturday’s finale, which Starks started 10th.
“It was a really good race, but we were just a little bit off,” he said. “It doesn’t take much with that caliber of cars to be off. We needed a caution or an open red to make a few adjustments and I think we would have been really good. The track was a little different than it’d been the rest of the weekend. We knew how to make the car better, but didn’t have an opportunity. However, I was happy with the result.”
Starks advanced for an eighth-place result, which was his 13th top 10 of the season. It was his best Dirt Cup finish since 2015 when he also ended eighth.
Starks will return to the Gobrecht Motorsports No. 44 this weekend for the start of Pennsylvania Speedweek, which features 10 consecutive days of racing beginning on Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
“This year we’re set to hit all of them,” he said. “If we’re on the ball I think we have a chance to win Speedweek. That’d be something awesome to win. Other than that I want to pick up a couple of wins. I think we have a good opportunity.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 21 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 2 (5); Qualifier: 7 (6); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 18 (18).
June 22 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 2 (4); Qualifier: 4 (4); Feature: 14 (11).
June 23 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Feature: 8 (10).
SEASON STATS –
36 races, 3 wins, 7 top fives, 13 top 10s, 20 top 15s, 25 top 20s
UP NEXT –
PENNSYLVANIA SPEEDWEEK – Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Saturday at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.; Sunday at Path Valley Speedway in Spring Run, Pa.; July 2 at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.; July 3 at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa.; July 4 at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa.; July 5 at Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, Md.; July 6 at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; July 7 at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa.; and July 7 at Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Pa.
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.”
Gobrecht Motorsports would also like to thank Textron Off Road, Golf Cart Services, Champion Brands, J&J Auto Racing, FK Rod Ends, Fibreworks Composites, Moose Blocks, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Beer Hill Gang, Gettysburg Rental Center, Gardy’s Enterprises, Baker Door Company, Moose Lodge 720, Pancho’s Racing Products, Pro Shocks, Auto Meter, KSE Racing Products, Fel-Pro, Taylor Ignition Wires, Miller Welders, K&N Filters, Mettec, Bell Helmets, AL Driveline, DMI, Champion Spark Plugs, ISC Racers Tape, Schroth Racing, HMS Motorsports, King Racing Products, Kinsler Fuel Injection, All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads, Ultra Lite Brakes & Components and Security Race Products 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 Jun 25, 2018
- Article Date: 6/25/2018 by Inside Line Promotions