8/3/2015
Sprint Source
Hahn Races Forward with Lucas Oil ASCS in Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska; Looking For More in Knoxville Return
(Image Credit: Ron Skinner)
KNOXVILLE, Iowa. (August 3, 2015) The Lucas Oil Products / JR1 Chassis No. 52 of Blake Hahn completed the journey back to the Midwest with runs at the Gillette Thunder Speedway, Black Hills Speedway, and the I-80 Speedway with the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
Hahn’s first trip to the Gillette Thunder Speedway in Gillette, Wyo. ended with a seventh place finish. Talking about his run, Hahn said, “The top was the line, but it was thin, and if you missed it by the smallest amount, you were going to fall off the track. A few times I got close, and the one time I did go over, thankfully the caution had already come out so I was able to recover a few spots.”
From a hard crash at the Black Hills Speedway in 2014, Hahn’s return to the Rapid City, S.D. oval ended with his eighth top-five finish of the 2015 season, “We were fast starting off at Black Hills. The track is big, but it was slick so we were able to win our Heat to get into the redraw. I was a little worried when I started raining, but it didn’t really hurt the track, and with it being slick, we were able to run forward from seventh.”
Returning to the team’s shop in Tulsa, Okla. prior to the I-80 Speedway, Hahn pulled out a newly built JR1 machine to shake down in preparation for the Knoxville Nationals. While Blake didn’t walk away from the I-80 Speedway with the finishes he was looking for, the Road to Knoxville was still an overall good weekend for the Lucas Oil No. 52 team with Hahn advancing position 19 times over the two day affair.
“The new car was good, but our engine program just isn’t on par for a track like I-80. We didn’t get the best draw for the Heats, so that put us near the back. It was tough to pass on Thursday so we ended up taking a provisional, but once the track slicked off a little bit for the feature, I was able to stick the bottom and starting moving forward,” said Hahn.
“Friday we drew high again, but we were able to race out of the “B”. I knew I couldn’t go to the top at all, so I just ran the bottom and it was operating, again, we just didn’t have the engine.”
Coming out of the I-80 Speedway with a 14th and 12th place appearance, the CSR Garage No. 52 made the drive to the Knoxville Raceway for laps prior to the Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank.
“Again, I knew we didn’t have the horsepower, but I just wanted to get the laps to figure out the setup. I got the bottom figured out in the B-Feature, and picked off a few cars, but the goal was to just be smooth. Knoxville is such a different track. You almost have to relearn how to drive a Sprint Car when you come here because you have to be so smooth because when you get sideways here, you killing four-tenths of a second, and bogging the engine down, and you just can’t do that running against these guys here.”
Looking ahead to the 360 Nationals, Hahn says the team is hoping to get a fresh bullet, “We have our other engine at Wesmar right now. I talked with Freddie, and we should have it for the 360 Nationals.” Asked what it would mean to make the show at Knoxville, Hahn replied, “That’s my goal right now. We’re not that far off right now with the car and I feel like once we get our other engine I think we’ll be alright.”
The Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank kicks off on Thursday, August 6 and runs through Saturday, August 8 at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. Live PPV coverage can be found at http://www.thecusion.com. Live audio can be found at http://www.racinboys.com.
To keep on Blake Hahn Racing, log onto http://www.blackhahnracing.com.
Season Stats:
Wins - 4; Top 5 - 8; Top 10 - 18; Top 15 - 26; Top 20 - 30
Blake Hahn Racing Online:
Website: http://www.blakehahnracing.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blake-Hahn-Racing/139549836107030
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HahnRacing_52
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Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert
