6/26/2011
Joshua Hodges
Hodges Motorsports Update - USA Raceway
We are heading back home from the USA Raceway in Tucson, AZ today after some ASCS Southwest racin' last night in the summer heat. I started the night with the 28 pill which set me starting 5th in the 1st heat. The track was tacky and fast, and tough to pass on. In the first lap or so, I was able to get by for 4th place, but after that there was no more passing, and just hammerdown. I ended up only advancing one position, but that was still enough to put me in the top 8 re-draw. I drew the 5 pill to start 5th in the feature on a track that now had slicked all the way from the bottom up. On the initial start, I was able to make my way to 3rd where I settled for a few laps. There was still a good bottom groove that I was able to grab a hold of and go by for 2nd. Almost 10 laps in, I heard what I thought to be somebody saying "yellow" on the radio and slowed up but the track was still green, and I let 3rd place back by. The track got slicker and slicker to where there was almost nothing to grab a hold of and I kept getting looser and looser when finally 4th place went by me. There was a red on lap 20, and another caution on lap 21 for the leader which set me back up to 3rd. On the restart, I could not gain any ground and just settled in 3rd, where I would finish the night. It was another podium finish for us, but of course we'd always like to improve and get better, and that is just what we'll do next time out.
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