(Photo by Zack Barber Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 16, 2018) – Trey Starks accomplished a major feat last weekend during the 35th annual Kings Royal.
Not only did he make the A Main during one of the crown jewel sprint car events of the season, the Gobrecht Motorsports driver led 14 laps of the 40-lap A Main on Saturday at Eldora Speedway.
“It was a good weekend overall,” he said. “We haven’t been good at Eldora the last handful of times we’ve showed up. To have speed and be in contention was a nice breath of fresh air. We gained speed and progressed over the three nights. It’s a tough one to swallow starting on the pole because you feel like you missed a big opportunity, but we led some laps and had speed. It’s awesome to have the opportunity to start up front like that. That doesn’t happen very often.”
While the end of the event was a rousing success, the tripleheader began on a frustrating note as Starks qualified 17th quickest in his group on Thursday after going out late. He then finished ninth in a heat race and 11th in the Last Chance Showdown.
“You definitely have to qualify well,” he said. “The first night we didn’t draw a good number and we went out late. We weren’t terrible in the heat and B Main, but putting yourself that far back is tough to overcome. It gave us some things to work on for the next couple of nights.”
Starks was stronger on Friday when he timed in fifth quickest in his group. He then had to overcome an early heat race incident in which he was crashed. Starks rebounded from the back to place fourth, which relegated him to the Last Chance Showdown. He won that race before ending the night 24th in the A Main.
“We had a good number for qualifying and we capitalized on that,” he said. “The heat race circumstances weren’t ideal, but that happens in racing. From the B Main to the feature we didn’t have a whole lot of time to change what wanted to. We weren’t as tight as we wanted to be, especially starting in the back. We started Saturday where we ended on Friday. It seemed to make the difference.”
Starks opened the Kings Royal finale by qualifying 24th quickest, which lined him up on the outside of the front row for the final heat race.
“We qualified in a good spot for the heat race,” he said. “I knew I had to win it because that’d give us the pole (for the A Main). The pole sitter jumped the start pretty bad on the first start. They called it back and put me to the pole. I knew I had to get a good start, but I couldn’t jump it.”
Starks led the distance of the heat race to earn the win and garner the pole position for the $50,000-to-win A Main.
“We were good for the first half of the race, but we were too good early and then we didn’t have enough at the end,” he said. “We’ve never had that situation before so that’s something we’ll have to keep in mind. You have to be there at the end at these big races. We got to traffic and the track started to slow up. I knew Donny (Schatz) would be coming so I started searching at the same time. Donny is really good on the bottom and the middle. I knew that’s where I’d have to find speed. I think if I would have just went to the top and tried to keep speed up I’d have been better.”
Starks led the first 14 laps before hanging on to an 11th-place result, which was his best ever during the Kings Royal.
He will take that momentum into World of Outlaws races this Thursday at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., during the Gettysburg Clash and Friday and Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., during the Summer Nationals.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 12 – Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 17; Heat race: 9 (9); B Main: 11 (12).
July 13 – Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 4 (2); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 24 (19).
July 14 – Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 24; Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 11 (1).
SEASON STATS –
44 races, 4 wins, 9 top fives, 16 top 10s, 24 top 15s, 30 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Thursday at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., for the Gettysburg Clash; and Friday and Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., for the Summer Nationals with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
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 – Fibreworks Composites
Fibreworks Composites has a unique combination of customers ranging from motor sports, OEM, solar and aerospace. A leader in the composite industry with the highest standards of quality and customer support, Fibreworks currently has two lines of business. FWC’s core business is the custom design, engineering and manufacturing of composite parts. FWC’s secondary line of business is high performance custom seating for the motor sports industry. For more information, visit http://www.FibreworksComposites.com.
“Fibreworks Composites makes custom seats and bodies for our race team,” Starks said. “I never realized there was a difference in a seat until I used Fibreworks Composites and I’ll never switch.”
Gobrecht Motorsports would also like to thank Textron Off Road, Golf Cart Services, Starks Timber Processing, J&J Auto Racing, FK Rod Ends, Champion Brands, 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 Jul 16, 2018
- Article Date: 7/16/2018 by Inside Line Promotions