3/14/2018
Blake Rogers Scores Top Five in Lucas Oil Modified Series Opener
(Image: Howard Twaddell)
26 Promotions – Lake Havasu City, AZ – (March 14, 2018) – The 2018 season for the Lucas Oil Modified Series presented by MAVTV opened this weekend with a trip to Blake Rogers’ home track of Havasu 95 Speedway for the Racing Plus 100 presented by LucasOilRacing.TV.
Racing at the quarter-mile asphalt oval began with practice on Friday evening; Rogers battled his racecar throughout the three-hour session.
“We fought an out of control car all weekend in practice,” explained Rogers. “We were on old tires, and the EFI was very responsive compared to a regular carburetor, so it took some time getting used to how much throttle I could give the car without spinning the tires to bad.”
Rain washed out most of the track activity on Saturday, forcing officials to move Saturday’s scheduled events, including qualifying and the 100-lap feature that was to be run that night, to Sunday afternoon.
Sunday kicked off with a quick five-lap practice session, followed by group qualifying where Rogers qualified ninth on scuffed tires, lining him up on the inside of the fifth row for the feature.
“The track was a lot hotter in the afternoon, so it was really slick compared to a night race where it has pretty good grip,” said Rogers. “We set up the car a little tighter than normal just to counter the heat of the track, we were gaining positions from the start, and the car was really good on long runs.”
Rogers was up to seventh when the first caution of the day would fly on lap 43. Instead of choosing the preferred inside lane, Rogers chose to restart on the outside of row five.
“I saw more lapped cars on the bottom, so I chose the top lane and was just hoping to get down because Havasu is definitely a one groove track right around the bottom,” he explained. “The inside lane got backed up, and we were able to get down to the bottom ahead of the other cars. We were actually three wide coming out of turn two, it was a little nerve-racking, but definitely, a great choice that helped us move ahead of the other lead lap cars.”
That decision rocketed Rogers up to fourth on the restart, from there he’d move into third just passed the halfway point of the race and began to battle for second. The last quarter of the race saw Rogers fade back to a fourth-place finish.
“I don’t know if we had anything for Taylor Miinch, he was on rails, but I know we were a top three car,” he said. “I burned my tires off trying to pass for second and ended up falling back. We definitely had a fast car, just needed a better qualifying spot which would have helped us save tires. Overall, I’m happy with how we did this weekend.”
The Lucas Oil Modified Series returns to action on April 14th at Tucson Speedway in Tucson, Ariz.
Blake Rogers would like to thank Lucas Oil, FIRM Inc., MGM Design, Jacks Auto Parts, Mitchell’s Merchant Patrol, Pacesetter Home Centers, Arce Race Engines, Dune Company of Yuma, Big W Sales, and Super Clean for their continued support.
Results
Qualifying: 9th, 15.515
Feature: 9th -> 4th
Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blakerogersracing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blazinblake4/
Website: http://www.blazinblake.org/
Article Credit: 26 Promotions
