5/28/2011
Joshua Hodges
Hodges Motorsports Update - USA Raceway
The night is all wrapped up here at the lightning fast USA Raceway in Tucson, AZ. It was the ASCS Canyon Region running tonight, making it our second non-wing race in a row, coming off a win in Aztec, NM. I started the night pulling the 23 pill which set me up starting 4th in the 1st heat. The track had moisture and a cushion line at the start of the heat, but quickly got black and slick through the middle. On the start, I was able to get to 3rd, and was running up on 2nd, getting by on lap 3 or 4. After that I chased down the leader and was side by side at the line but was not good enough, settling for a 2nd place finish in the heat. That gave us enough points to make the top 8 re-draw, where I drew 5 to start 5th. Now the track was dry slick all through the middle with a cushion on the fence on both ends, and a good bottom groove in turns 1 and 2. On the start, I was 5th running the bottom groove and was able to surge to 3rd down the backstrech on lap 1. After that, I worked a few laps on second, and was able to get by for second. Now I chased down the leader, but was not closing the gap until we got to lap cars. With a good distance between me and 3rd now, I made some moves and was able to get closer throught the traffic and got to the leader's bumper. One lap I got side by side but could not finish the move on about lap 22 (of 30). That turned out to be my last good chance at it, and ended up finishing a close 2nd. We are really pleased with our performance tonight, finding some more speed in the car, but we hope to improve even more tomorrow, and possibly take home the win. Once again, check our Facebook and Twitter pages for live updates, and check here on the website for a detailed update of our run.
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