(Photo courtesy of Lincoln Speedway)
Inside Line Promotions – ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. (Sept. 9, 2021) – Alan Krimes scored his second victory of the season behind the wheel of his family owned No. 87 last Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway during the backend of a pair of Twin 20 feature events.
Krimes hustled from 24th to 12th during the first feature event at the track after ending with a DNS at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., on Friday.
"Friday was a bit of a bummer as we were in a good position to have a good run before the engine went," he said. "Saturday didn't start out so well, but we got things figured out in the right time and were able to make something out of nothing."
Krimes kicked off the weekend on Friday at Williams Grove Speedway behind the wheel of the Stewart Smith owned No. 27. He started on the pole of a heat race, but disaster struck on Lap 2 when the team suffered engine woes and were forced to the pits.
Not only did the mechanical failure end his night early, but it also closed Krimes’ season prematurely at Williams Grove Speedway with the No. 27 team. With the team out of engines and only a handful events left at the famed oval, the team will now start preparing for next season.
"It's not the way we wanted things to end, but we've had a decent season together for our first year," he said. "We felt like we were just starting to really get going again and to have it end that way is just unfortunate. But I'm grateful for the opportunity Stewart provided me this season."
On Saturday Krimes headed to Lincoln Speedway, where he currently sits second in the championship standings. His night started off with a fluid leak during warm-ups and heat race action and he failed to transfer as a result. The team got the problem corrected and despite a spark plug issue in the B Main, Krimes managed to grab the final transfer into the feature.
With the gremlins behind him, Krimes lined up for the feature in the 24th spot. He climbed to 13th with one lap to go and inherited the 12th position as a result of a competitor wrecking on the final circuit. Not only was the 12th-place finish good enough to earn the Hard Charger Award, it also gave him the pole position for the second 20-lap feature courtesy of a fortunate inversion.
"It was definitely a trying night, but it shows how dedicated my guys are to get us going and going well," he said. "It was a tricky track, but to get to 12th means we had a great car and we were able to snag the pole for Feature No. 2, which made things a lot easier."
With much needed clean air in front of him, Krimes led all 20 laps to pick up the victory. The win was worth $3,000 and was his first of the season driving a new X-1 Race Car chassis. Krimes recently made the change to X-1 looking to spark his season. With only a handful of events under the X-1 banner, Krimes noted that he is thrilled with the progress he’s made.
"You never know when you switch chassis manufactures how much it's going to change your setup and the way you do things," he said. "We've only got three races on the car, but it’s shown speed every time we've been out and it’s nice to get a win this early. It's definitely a relief knowing Ryan Linder gives us a great chassis to work with. I'm looking forward to working more with him and winning more races together."
Krimes will take this weekend off from racing, but will return to action on Sept. 18 at the Dirt Classic VIII presented by Shmuck Lumber Company. The race pays $20,000 to win and is sanctioned by the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions.
"It's nice to have some momentum heading into the end of the year and with so many guys coming into town we're going to need to lay down a good lap in time trials to have any shot," he said. "However, if we do our part and check that box early in the night I don’t see any reason we can’t be in contention for a win. We've got a fast race car right now and that's all you can ask for this late in the year."
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept 3 – Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: DNF (1); Feature: DNS (-).
Sept 4 – Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa. – Heat race: 9 (8); B Main: 6 (7); Feature #1: 12 (24): Feature #2: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
41 races, 2 wins, 13 top fives, 25 top 10s, 32 top 15s, 35 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sept. 18 at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.., for the Dirt Classic VIII with the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: https://ak87racing.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ak87hegone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/242968755792071
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Beerhill Gang TV
Beerhill Gang TV is a FREE Sprint Car media site based mainly off Facebook. Utilizing the Facebook Live technology, the Beerhill Gang TV crew hosts a weekly PA Sprint Car Live broadcast interviewing drivers and recapping the week's results from the tracks in Central Pennsylvania. They also host live pre-race shows throughout the year at various Speedways and provide nightly interviews with the top three throughout the year as well. https://www.facebook.com/BeerhillGangTV.
“I really appreciate the Beerhill Gang TV guys thinking of me and for them wanting to support our race team.” said Krimes. “We’re a smaller team, so every little bit helps. I’m looking forward to the 2021 season and thankful to have them on board as a sponsor.”
Krimes would also like to thank Osage Piping & Fabricating, Abe Service Company, Wayne S. Corini, CPA, Four Valleys Transport LLC, Chapel’s Country Creamery., Glick’s Auto Body, Smith Titanium, Haas Shocks, Moose Blocks, Roadrunner Racing Fuels and Mike’s Powerwash 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 Sep 09, 2021
- Article Date: 9/9/2021 by Inside Line Promotions