7/7/2014
Sprint Source
Russ Hall – Jackson Win Highlights Strong Weekend!
With Knoxville Raceway succumbing to rain for the third time in four weeks, Russ Hall and the Skillz Motorsports #29 team headed north Saturday to the Jackson Speeedway in Jackson, Minnesota. The trip paid off with a win. Last Thursday night, Russ ran a strong second at the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines with the Sprint Invaders. The team has two more races planned this weekend. On Friday, they’ll race with the Sprint Invaders at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa before trying it again at Knoxville on Saturday.
Russ drew a starting spot in the back of his heat race at Jackson Saturday. “It was really heavy and narrow, so drawing at the back of the heat wasn’t ideal,” he says. “There was a big crash in the first corner, and I ended up starting third from eighth. We ended up finishing second. We may have been faster than Kaley (Gharst) but he held me off.”
The heat race break meant Russ would start fourth in the main event. “I was pretty nervous going into the feature,” he says. “The track was so heavy, and that really wasn’t the place for our car. We ended up making the right changes and nailing the setup. We were able to run the top of the track, and from what I understand, no one else was able to run the cushion.”
The Pleasant Hill, Iowa native worked his way forward quickly. “Track position was key,” says Russ. “It was tough to pass. It was even tough to pass the lapped cars. I was able to get a decent start, and came off of turn two in third. I was able to get by Derrik Lusk on the next lap.”
That’s when he ran down the leader. “I was able to run down Kaley, but he ended up breaking a wheel center out of the wheel right as I was going by him,” says Russ. “It was an unfortunate break for him, but I believe we had the car to beat anyway.”
The team’s last win came in April at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. “We’ve been close several times since then, but to get a win on a track like Jackson was a confidence booster,” says Russ. “The chassis we’re running has almost sixty nights on it, and we’ve been thinking about building a new one. Now, I think we’ll just put a new body on this one and keep running it.”
Last Thursday night saw the Sprint Invaders make their first appearance ever in Des Moines. Russ would finish third in his heat and line up seventh for the main event. “It got heavy and rough on us with all the rain,” he says. “It was really tricky. I knew going into the feature, we just had to survive it and finish. CJ Houseman checked it out of the ballpark. We lost several cars there. (Matt) Moro and (Jon) Agan took off on a pace that I knew was going to be dangerous. Catching lapped cars at that speed, I knew it would be a matter of time before something happened. Sure enough, Moro ends up running into a lapped car, and Agan got into some debris.”
Russ would keep the #29 on track to finish and ended up second. “(Don) Droud got around us and I didn’t have anything for him,” he says. “I was just happy to finish the race in one piece and come home with a second place finish.”
Russ remains third in the Knoxville Raceway 360 point standings. “Hopefully, we can keep up the solid finishes there,” he says. “I’m looking forward to the next month. Making the A main at the 360 Nationals is our focus right now. June and July hasn’t been typical. With all the rain, we’ve missed shows and when we have been on the different tracks, it’s been heavy instead of the dry-slick we’re accustomed to.”
One of the races that was rained out at Knoxville was Twin Features night, a highly anticipated race for both the drivers and fans. “I’m looking forward to going to Tipton on Friday with the Sprint Invaders, and getting back to Knoxville if the rain holds off on Saturday,” says Russ. “It’s too bad we lost Twin Features. For the drivers it sucks, but for the fans I think it’s even worse. They look forward to it. It’s too bad they can’t make them up for us.”
Russ and the Skillz Motorsports team would like to thank: Waterfront Seafood Market, Kulow Trucking, Northtown Motors, Schnee Chassis, Ostrich Racing Engines, Tom Davis Automotive, Des Moines Industrial Products, Midland Performance, Ballistic Designs, HRP, Jim’s Johns, R&L Racing Shocks and Jocko’s.
Attached: Russ in Victory Lane at Jackson (Rob Kocak Photo)
Article Credit: Bill Wright