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Starks Wins Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek Opener and Produces Strong First Half of Speedweek

(Photo courtesy of Williams Grove Speedway)

Inside Line Promotions – BECHTELSVILLE, Pa. (July 4, 2018) – Trey Starks is in a great place halfway through his first time contesting the entire Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek.

The Gobrecht Motorsports driver won the Speedweek opener and led the championship standings through the first four nights before a late-race crash on Tuesday dropped him to fourth in the standings at the midpoint of the 10-race event.

“During the first half of Speedweek we went to a track we never went to before, a track we don’t run very often and a track we’ve been to once and we’re still pretty good in points despite having issues during two nights,” he said. “We’re coming to five nights of tracks we’re strong at. I’m pretty optimistic despite the last two nights not ending very good.”

Speedweek got off to a rousing start for Starks last Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He set quick time during qualifying and advanced from fourth to third place in a heat race before drawing the pole position for the A Main.

“I felt really good right out of the gate,” he said. “I feel confident at the time trial shows there. We have a really good package for qualifying. We were solid in the heat and ran third. I knew it’d get us in the redraw. We got a fortunate draw. The thing about drawing the front row you have guys that are so good behind you so you have to capitalize. You have to get the lead early and go hard and fast to get away from the rest of the guys. I tried to set as fast of a pace as I could and I tried to pick through traffic as best as I could. We had a fantastic car.”

Starks led the distance to score his second straight Speedweek triumph at Williams Grove Speedway dating back to last year. He is only the sixth driver to ever earn back-to-back Speedweek victories at the track.

The team ventured to Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., on Saturday. Starks qualified 12th quickest and placed third in a heat race, which lined him up on the outside of the seventh row for the main event.

“We had a really good start and picked off about five cars in the first handful of laps and then pretty much rode the rest of the race,” he said. “It was pretty top-lane dominant. I stayed committed to the top and took what I could get. It was one of those tracks if you tried to slide too early or made a mistake there’d be a guy right there.”

Starks maneuvered to a ninth-place result.

He headed to Path Valley Speedway in Spring Run, Pa., on Sunday. Starks timed in fifth quickest, won a heat race and maneuvered from seventh to fifth place in the feature.

“We backed up to ninth or 10th in the first 10 laps,” he said. “We knew we wouldn’t be the best early, but in a 50-lap race you have to be there in the end. As the race went on we got better and started picking them off. It was all about patience. You had to take your time and not make mistakes. That was a pretty fun race because there was a lot of changing and progression throughout the race.”

Starks continued to run strong on Monday at Lincoln Speedway, where he qualified fourth quickest and placed fourth in a heat race to make the feature redraw. He pulled the No. 3 and was running inside the top 10 when a late-race mistake dropped him to a 23rd-place finish.

“The groove was way up on the wall and pretty tricky,” he said. “I just drove it in too hard. I got a little bit of the wall and it pulled the front end over. We were running seventh or eighth and I just misjudged the corner.”

Starks rebounded early on Tuesday when he made his debut at Grandview Speedway, where he timed in sixth quickest, won a heat race and drew the No. 6 starting position for the A Main.

“We had a really good start,” he said. “We were up to fourth in the first lap and I felt like we had a really good race car. We faded in the middle so I moved to the bottom. We were making up ground. Third through seventh were right there and it was anybody’s game. To get caught up in an incident like that is unfortunate.”

Starks was in a torrid battle between drivers ranging from third through seventh place when he had to slam on his brakes to avoid a lapped car that had ran into a car that was slowing because of a flat tire. Starks spun and ended 18th after having to restart at the back of the field.

The remaining Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek races are Wednesday at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa.; Thursday at Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, Md.; Friday at Williams Grove Speedway; Saturday at Port Royal Speedway; and Sunday at Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Pa.

QUICK RESULTS –

June 29 – Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 1 (1).

June 30 – Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa. – Qualifying: 12; Heat race: 3 (2); Feature: 9 (14).

July 1 – Path Valley Speedway in Spring Run, Pa. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 5 (7).

July 2 – Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa. – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 4 (4); Feature: 23 (3).

July 3 – Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 18 (6).

SEASON STATS –

41 races, 4 wins, 9 top fives, 16 top 10s, 23 top 15s, 29 top 20s

UP NEXT –

PENNSYLVANIA SPEEDWEEK – Wednesday at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa.; Thursday at Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, Md.; Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Saturday at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa.; and Sunday at Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Pa.

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Starks55Trey

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreyStarksRacing?fref=ts

APPAREL –

Starks has t-shirts and hoodies for sale at http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – J&J Auto Racing

Located in McKenzie, Tenn., J&J Auto Racing has manufactured sprint car chassis and racing parts for more than 40 years. For more information, visit http://www.JandJAutoRacing.com.

“I’ve been working with J&J Auto Racing for several years and they build the best product around,” Starks said.

Gobrecht Motorsports would also like to thank Textron Off Road, Golf Cart Services, Starks Timber Processing, Champion Brands, FK Rod Ends, Fibreworks Composites, Moose Blocks, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Beer Hill Gang, Gettysburg Rental Center, Gardy’s Enterprises, Baker Door Company, Moose Lodge 720, Pancho’s Racing Products, Pro Shocks, Auto Meter, KSE Racing Products, Fel-Pro, Taylor Ignition Wires, Miller Welders, K&N Filters, Mettec, Bell Helmets, AL Driveline, DMI, Champion Spark Plugs, ISC Racers Tape, Schroth Racing, HMS Motorsports, King Racing Products, Kinsler Fuel Injection, All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads, Ultra Lite Brakes & Components and Security Race Products for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.

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