8/8/2015
Joshua Hanna
Bud Hanna Finds Groove During Doubleheader Weekend
The Sprint Series of Texas traveled to Boyd and Abilene last weekend to compete in the second consecutive series doubleheader. On Friday night, the team traveled to Boyd, TX where the SCP Polymers drivers again experienced car damage on the first leg of the trip. Bud had a bent front axle, Josh, a slightly crippled front wing, and Mike sustained damage to his steering mechanism. Oddly, all three drivers had these occur in different stages of the night. The first involved rookie Josh Hanna getting tangled up in a two-car wreck that happened in front of him where he was unable to avoid a spinning car and climbed a right rear tire. Although the wing was damaged, no structural issues were visible and he would recover to finish 3rd in his heat to transfer to the A-Main. Unfortunately, neither Mike nor Bud transferred out of their heat races and were relegated to the B-Main event.
During the B-Main, Mike Herring took off from the field to seize a relatively easy victory. However, Bud Hanna was on the verge of a transfer spot until he, like his son, was unable to avoid a spinning car. Unlike his son, his car had major damage as the front axle was bent and he was retired for the evening.
With Herring and the younger Hanna in the A-Main, the two started 12th and 4th respectively. However the two of them began moving in opposite directions upon the drop of the green flag as Mike surged to 9th while Josh continued to cool-off from his fast start to the season to finish 14th. Mike would later discover, after the race, that he had bent several components of his steering mechanism due to contact with an infield truck tire. Jason Howell was the winner of the evening as he moved unscathed through the field.
The next morning, all three drivers scrambled to finish repairs with the help of several crew members. After several hours of exhaustive work in 100-degree sweltering heat, all three trailers were loaded up and sent to Abilene with barely any time to spare. The work apparently paid off for Bud Hanna. To start the evening, Bud would start 2nd in his heat race and would pass for the lead and hold onto it for his first win of the season. As the feature approached, Bud started 3rd place. Although he finished 11th, he raced very competitively and beat his son who finished in the 14th position for the second consecutive night. Mike would finish 10th, beating Bud by half a car length on the final lap after spinning while attempting to pass Josh earlier in the race. Adam Barr would end up holding off Jerry Hammock, Dustin Woods, and Jason Howell to win the race in a very impressive fashion.
The next SST race will be held at Southern Oklahoma Speedway on August 22nd.
Submitted By: Joshua Hanna
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