20TH TO 4TH, ONE LAP SHORT

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Bob Stephens

(Hattiesburg, MS) After a strong second place finish last Saturday night Ben was excited to have a go at this Friday night’s Mississippi Modified Challenge Series $1,000 to win at Hattiesburg Motorsports Park. Prior to the heat race Ben made a suspension change that made the car way too tight for track conditions. This tight condition combined with minor engine problems caused Ben to pull off early in his heat race. 

Ben reversed the suspension change, diagnosed and corrected the engine problem then realized he would have his work cut out by starting at the back of the A-Main. A full field of hungry modifieds on a short quarter mile track would make for an exciting evening. Ben started 20th and after the field settled in to a rhythm, he found his mount worthy of a high-side run and started passing cars on the outside. Although there were several cautions, Ben was able to advance through the field quickly making his way into the top-10. He methodically made his way towards the lead pack and with only a handful of laps remaining Ben was in 4th. 

The battle for positions became intense in the closing laps which resulted in several back-to-back cautions. In 4th place, Ben restarted on the inside of row two where the track was rough on one end and muddy on the other. “We had a right front shock on that didn’t like the bumps but I was able to ease it through a couple of times,” Ben commented. “On my last restart I managed to get through turns one and two on the bottom and as we entered turn three side-by-side I tried to hold it close to the skidder tires on the inside but unfortunately it was still wet and muddy. As I started to slide up into the guy next to me I got on the brakes, was bumped form behind and spun out. The result was a flat tire so I was done and off to the pits.” 

Due to the length of the race and numerous cautions the flagman waved the green and white together then the checkers, Ben watched, one lap short of a good come-from-behind race. Ben will be back in action this Saturday night for another Mississippi Modified Challenge Series race at Whynot Motorsports Park.

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