(Image Credit: Wildlight Motorsport Photography)
Bryan Hulbert – ALGER, Wash. (June 27, 2018) Making the cut during each night of competition in the 47th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by the Skagit Casino Resort, Blake Hahn is well in the hunt for the 2017 title with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com with a weekend high runner-up finish in prelim competition.
“It wasn’t the Dirt Cup we were shooting for, but in the overall season, it was a good weekend. We’re right there in the points when we really need to be there,” commented Hahn.
Rolling out of Thursday’s A-Feature with a second place finish to Sam Hafertepe, Jr. the overall feel for the weekend was a high one.
“Thursday went about as good as you could have asked for. We drew good, and we didn’t finish any worse than second all night. Since we changed to our backup JR1, during Speedweek, the car’s been really good each night, especially in the slick so Thursday’s track played well to what we’ve been doing. Even with a little bit of rubber towards the end, the car was really easy to drive.”
Looking to back up his performance on Friday night, things didn’t go as well with the Griffith Truck and Equipment No. 52 falling short of the much-needed Qualifier.
“I knew we were in trouble. The track was way heavier than Thursday night, and we ended up drawing the back of the first Heat so that put us in a B-feature, and I’m not going to lie, I was a little worried about being able to transfer, but the track ended up really racy for the features. I just kept pulling the wing back and it just kept getting better.”
Gridding the field 22nd, attrition and restart through the A-Feature moved Hahn to a 13th place finish.
“Friday’s Feature was nuts. After the first couple starts and having to avoid everyone crashing, I just made finishing the goal, and figured where ever we landed, I was going to be grateful to just roll into the trailer.”
Having to work out of a B-Feature on Saturday, the final result was a 10th place finish in the 40-lap A-Feature.
“Once we got through the first two starts, I really figured we were going to have a couple cautions, but it ended up going green to checkered. I really felt like I was faster but getting through traffic was tricky. You could run top or bottom, and they were pretty equal, so you had to work on getting the run. Once we started having to deal with the lapped cars falling through the field, that helped me, and with the quality of cars we had, I was happy getting to 10th. Just wish we could have started a little further forward, but we’ll get it next time.”
Up next for Hahn is the Fred Brownfield Classic at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. on Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 30. Both nights begin at 7:00 P.M. (PDT).
The 2018 season is Blake Hahn’s 16th year of racing. Starting in Jr. Sprints at the Tulsa Shootout, Hahn has progressed through the ranks with over 90 victories across Micros, Midgets, and Sprint Cars. For continued updates on Blake Hahn Racing, along with his full 2018 lineup, log onto http://www.blakehahnracing.com.
2018 Season to Date:
Events: 37; Wins -1; Top 5 - 18; Top 10 - 30; Top 15 –34; Top 20 –35;
Coming Up: Fred Brownfield Classic
June 29 and 30 at Grays Harbor Raceway (Elma, Wash)
Blake Hahn Racing Online Store:
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How To Stalk Blake Hahn Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blake-Hahn-Racing-139549836107030/?fref=ts
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The Sponsors:
Lucas Oil Products, Griffith Truck and Equipment, CSR Garage, Velocita, Parker Lee Project, Speedway Vending, Semi Crazy Truck Wash, JR1, Wesmar, Triple X Race Co., Engler, Smiley’s Racing Products, Hoosier Tire Southwest, Penske Shocks, Maxwell Industries, Best Graphics, Schoenfeld, Rod End Supply, Pizza Express of Oklahoma, and EFH.