4/19/2016
Blake Hahn
Pair of Top 10’s Highlight Weekend For Blake Hahn
SAPULPA, Okla. (April 19, 2016) Originally scheduled to take on the ASCS Red River Region at the Red River Speedway, the announcement last week that the track was shutting down pushed Blake Hahn east to the Knoxville Raceway for the track’s 2016 season opener and Missouri State Fair Speedway with the Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region presented by Impact Signs, Awnings, and Wraps.
Drawing early in the qualifying order on Saturday night, Hahn ended up 11th fastest overall out of 33 drivers.
“That’s the best we’ve ever qualified at Knoxville,” said Hahn. “I actually messed up on the first lap. I cheated the cushion and ended up just having to wait on the car. The second lap, I put it in right on the cushion and just tried to keep it as straight as possible and made a big difference.”
Running in the final transfer for much of this Heat Race, the final laps saw Ryan Roberts able to sneak by, putting Hahn to the front row of the B-Main.
“I missed the bottom and that let Roberts get by me there at the end. In the B-Main, Landis got the jump on me so I was working around the track trying to just get laps. I wasn’t every really challenged and I actually started catching Calvin and got by him for the win off the last turn.”
Getting his time back for the A-Feature lineup, Hahn started 11th on the grid.
“In the feature, I pretty much committed to the bottom and just kept working on hitting my marks and started moving forward. I think we were up to about eighth and I had a run on Seth [Bergman] and Matt [Covington] but about that time, everyone got bottled up trying avoid another car and that pushed us back to 10th but overall I was really happy with the car. I haven’t had the best of luck at Knoxville over the past couple of years so to come out with a top-ten, I’ll take it.”
Making the roughly four hour trek south to the Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Mo. the Lucas Oil / CSR Garage No. 52 met a field of 23 drivers for the season opener for the Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region presented by Impact Signs, Awnings, and Wraps.
Drawing the outside of the front row for the Heat, Hahn got the drop for the lead going into the first turn.
“Once we got the lead, I just kept in straight. The track was already getting slick so the bottom was really the only place we could run. The win put us in the redraw and I drew a six.”
“In the main, the track was rubber so about the only way to move forward was if the person in front of you messed up, or if you moved them, but I will say, the track was in better shape than I thought it was going to be considering it was a day race, and we had Late Models. The biggest issue really was the dust. Had it been at night, it wouldn’t have been as bad, but in the sun, it’s like driving through a thick fog.”
Looking ahead on Hahn’s schedule, this weekend will see the No. 52 with the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Red River Region presented by Smiley’s Racing Products at the Humboldt Speedway on Friday, April 22 and the Springfield Raceway in Saturday, April 23.
Both nights can be heard live on Racinboys.com with a Premium Membership.
To keep up on everything happening with Blake Hahn Racing, fans can follow the Oklahoma racer at http://www.blakehahnracing.com.
Season to Date:
Races: 13; A-Features: 11; Wins 1; Top 5 - 4; Top 10 - 7; Top 15 – 9; Top 20 – 11
Recent Results:
4/16/2016 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa)
Heat: 6th; B-Main: 1st; A-Main 10th
4/17/2016 – Missouri State Fair Speedway (Sedalia, Mo.)
Heat 1st; A-Main 6th
Up Next:
April 22, 2016 – Humboldt Speedway (Humboldt, Kan.) – ASCS Red River
April 23, 2016 – Springfield Raceway (Springfield, Mo.) – ASCS Red River/Warrior
Blake Hahn Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blake-Hahn-Racing-139549836107030/?fref=ts
Website: http://www.blakehahnracing.com
Instagram: BHAHN52
Sponsors:
Lucas Oil Products, CSR Garage, Speedway Vending, JR1, Wesmar, Triple X Race Co., Engler, Penske Shocks, Maxwell Industries, Best Graphics, Schoenfeld, and EFH.
Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert