9/2/2015
Howard Racing Team Held Back By Collision
(Photo by Hale Photography)
SWEET SPRINGS, Mo. – Fresh off doubling up on wins at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex on August 22, Howard Racing Team’s strength didn’t shine through on Saturday night’s scorecard. Younger brother Blake eked out a fifth-place result in the junior sprint class, but Luke Howard’s night ended early after contact with a spinning car knocked him out of the restrictor division main event with a bent front axle.
Both the junior sprint and restrictor classes enjoyed high car counts on the evening, with 15 and 17 signing in, respectively. Blake and Luke started the night off right in their individual heat races; Blake took the victory from outside row two in his heat, and Luke won from inside row two in his.
The mains, however, wouldn’t go as well. Starting in 14th, Blake set a blistering pace early on in the junior sprint race, and needed only four laps to enter the top five. But from that point, the VooDoo Chassis No. 5H found difficulty in moving further up the running order. Though battling hard himself, as well as taking challenges from behind, “Thunder” Blake tallied a fifth-place finish, ending his streak of five consecutive wins dating to July 18.
Like his younger brother, “Lightning” Luke rolled from the grid in 14th. But he would outdo him in the early laps, passing an incredible nine cars on the opening circuit to move into fifth. By lap nine, the standout had put three more cars behind him to take second. While facing a fight for position on lap 17, a car spinning on the back straightaway just in front of the No. 2 Pace Chassis was unavoidable, and heavy contact resulted. Though Howard refired his machine and attempted to rejoin the race, the bent front axle made steering impossible and required a tow back to the pit area. Howard was credited with a 15th-place finish.
Howard Racing Team would like to thank Canyon Stone, Cash Kid Digital Studios, Fairfield Motor Sports, Beard Motorsports, Nathan Benson Motorsports, and AdvanTec Dyno Services for their continued support.
Howard Racing Team is next scheduled to compete on September 5 at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in Sweet Springs, Mo. with Luke in the No. 2 600cc restricted micro sprint entry, and Blake in the No. 5H junior sprint entry.
Quick Results
Luke: August 29 – Sweet Springs, MO – 600cc Restrictor – Heat: 1st (3); Feature: 15th (14)
Blake: August 29 – Sweet Springs, MO – Junior Sprint – Heat: 1st (4); Feature: 5th (14)
2015 Stats
Luke: 15 races, 15 features, 4 wins, 13 top fives, 13 top tens, 2 DNFs
Blake: 14 races, 14 features, 6 wins, 13 top fives, 14 top tens, 0 DNFs
Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions