News

Sorry our update is so late. Our internet was down and we had to wait until we got back home. The second night of the Hutchinson Nationals at the Kansas State Fairgrounds was postponed by rain to a later date. We are unsure if we will be able to make the second night depending on the date they reschedule it. It looks like the Hodges Motorsports team will try to make it next weekend for the one-day ASCS Lonestar vs. Sooner race in Lawton, OK. We will have an update later in the week confirming where we are heading.

We have finished up the first night of the Hutchinson Nationals here at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. It was our first night away from ASCS this year, running with the NCRA Sprints after seeing bad weather for the ASCS Gulf South in the Houston area. I pulled pill number 49 to start 4th in the 3rd heat. After a couple of hot lap sessions and getting a good feel for the car, we started the heat and it started taking rubber through turns 1 and 2. I finished 4th and nobody really made many moves. I ended up 12th in points and started 12th in the A Feature. By that time, the track was rubber down almost all the way around the 1/2 mile. I took off, and hung in the slick through 1 and 2 the first lap and fell in line around 12th. After a couple cautions, mid-race, I finally got comfortable and figured out how to run the car with about 5 laps to go and finished the race 9th, making a late race charge. There are definitely some things I can change driving the car and we'll look to improve tomorrow. We want to thank John and Ian Stroud again, along with Mark for their great help. Look for an update on Sunday.

After a weekend off, the Hodges Motorsports crew is chomping at the bit to get back going again. After seeing the forecast for Houston including a hurricane, we decided to head up to Kansas for the Hutchinson Nationals with the NCRA Sprints. It will be our first event of the year with the NCRA. We would like to thank John and Ian Stroud for coming along with Mark Rosborough who once again is making the drive to come help us out. We wish luck to the competitors down in Tularosa, NM as well as Aztec, NM. We will have an update as soon as we can on Saturday morning.

After Friday night at Devil's Bowl Speedway we were looking for improvement the second night and we did so. After pulling pill 20, I started second row outside of the second heat. I got a good jump on the start up to second and passed for the lead about two or three laps in. We won the heat and had a really good car we thought we could build on. We made the top-8 re-draw and pulled 2 to start on the outside pole. In the main, I slipped back to 5th early trying to find the race track. It took rubber coming off turn 2 and was still a bit moist through 3 and 4 but was slick as ice getting in turn 1. During the last few laps, I tried a few things and slipped out of the rubber and fell back to sixth, where I would finish. It was a decent night against some tough competition and we know we could have made a few different calls on setup but definitely learned a lot for next time. We would like to say thank you to Scott Horner who helped us out Saturday and wish all the dads out there a Happy Fathers Day.

Tonight was just not quite our night for the 74x team. We pulled a middle pill, 33, to start 4th in the 1st heat race. After moving forward and backing up through some mid-race battles, we ended up 4th. Now, we started 16th in the A-Feature. We made a few changes according to the changing track conditions as it got a little slicker and started off decent. There were quite a few early red and yellow flags and for most of the race I ran 10th and 11th. As the race went on, I could feel the motor laying down. We suspect we may have burned up a piston, but are unsure as of right now. We will put in a fresh bullet today and give it another shot to hopefully perform a little better than tonight.

We are heading back to Texas this weekend for the Devil's Bowl double as the Lonestar and the Sooner Region clash on Friday and Saturday. Coming off another top 5 at Cowtown, we are feeling good heading into this weekend against some top competition. It will be the second time we have been to Mesquite, TX this year, the first being the ASCS National Opener. Look for an update Saturday for our results.

*Photo courtesy of www.pushinthecushin.com/ They will have live updates through both nights here at Devil's Bowl so check them out.

After a rough night in Boyd, TX on Friday, we redeemed ourselves with a solid top 5 at Cowtown on Saturday. After pulling the 31 pill, I started 6th in the 2nd heat race. After an early wreck, I ran myself up to 3rd, where we would finish. After the top 8 re-draw, I started 5th in the A-feature. The track was heavy all the way around with a small black streak getting into turn 1 and not much of a cushion on either end. I ran 6th most of the race as we were jockeying for position the majority of the 25 lap feauture. After a last lap caution, I got one car on a restart and within a few inches of 4th under the checkers. We are pleased with 5th against this tough competition, and look to keep building. We want to make a special thanks to Carla Herrera and to one of our new marketing partners, The Oil Medics. You can check them out on the web at www.theoilmedics.com/ We will keep you posted on where we are heading next week.

It was a rough night to say the least for the Hodges Motorsports team. I drew pill number 28 so I started 6th in the 2nd heat. After running about 5th most of the race, I slipped up and fell back to 6th. I struggled to get comfortable with the car and the track. Now we had to start deep in the A-Feature from 15th. After about 3 laps, we got one or two spots and the car felt really good when some cars got together in front of me and it was too late for me to dodge them. The only damage was a flat right rear, but by the time we got to the hot pit area, the track was under green again. We will mark this one down as a good learning experience and move on to Cowtown tonight in hopes of a better run.