From Starks Racing PR
Puyallup, WA — (January 9, 2013) — Trey Starks is well aware of the history, prestige and aura of the famed Chili Bowl Nationals. After all, his father John competed in the Chili Bowl during its formative years, finishing a very solid sixth in the 1995 edition of the star-studded event, which draws drivers from a multitude of racing series and disciplines. Trey will follow in his dad’s footsteps this year, as he’ll open his 2013 racing campaign in the Chili Bowl, which will mark his first career start in a midget.
Starks will pilot a Spike with a Stanton Mopar engine, owned by Jim Ferns under the banner of Tracy Hines Racing. Hines, the 2005 Chili Bowl winner, will set the car up and serve as crew chief for Starks. Ferns’ daughter Taylor, who is the winningest female in USAC history, claimed the 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series championship driving for her father, and will also be competing in the Chili Bowl.
“The Chili Bowl is a pretty amazing event,” said Starks. “This is my first time out here and with all the cars and drivers it’s pretty overwhelming. It will be good to have a few days to see how the format and everything works before I go back on the track on Friday. It was good having some practice the other day and we got a few good laps in during that time.”
The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire opened last night and runs through Saturday, Jan. 12 at the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla. A field of well over 250 entrants is split into four qualifying nights. Starks will take to the track on Friday, Jan. 11 for Vacuworx Global Qualifying night, with the top-three finishes in each of the four preliminary features moving directly into the main event on Saturday, Jan. 12. The high school junior turned his first laps in a midget on Monday during practice day.
“My dad will be here this weekend and he will definitely have some good advice from the times he raced here,” noted the younger Starks. “Having Tracy (Hines) working on the car is a huge help as well, with all the laps and experience he has here. With my dad and Tracy working together, we should fare pretty well.”
Starks, who hails from Puyallup, Wash., competed in a variety of 410 and 360 winged sprint car events in 2012. He was victorious twice, winning at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif., in April, as well as his home track of Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., in September. Starks raced at 18 different tracks last season in nine states with five series. He wrapped up the season with 17 top-10 finishes, of which 14 were top-five performances, including 12 podium finishes.
“The track here at the Chili Bowl is definitely different than any other track we ran on last year or will run on this year,” explained Starks. “This will be the first time I’m racing without a wing, so it will be different for sure. You really need to get some laps and get a feel for everything before you can really go into it. It’s great to be here and it’s going to be a fun week.”
The third-generation driver made his first appearance at both the famed Knoxville Raceway in Iowa and the legendary Eldora Speedway in Ohio in 2012. In his first trip to each of those half-miles he won a heat race to earn a spot in the World of Outlaws dash. Starks returned to Eldora in the summer for the Kings Royal and to Knoxville for the Knoxville Nationals and 360 Knoxville Nationals in August.
In a limited number of starts with the World of Outlaws last year, Starks earned the KSE Racing Hard Charger Award three times. That honor goes to the driver that passes the most cars in the A-Feature each night. The young driver recorded a pair of 12th-place finishes among the seven Top-15 performances he turned in with the series.
Trey Starks and Starks Racing would like to thank their valued partners: BR Motorsports, FX Signs, King Racing Products, Masco Petroleum, Northwest Powerdercoating & Sandblasting, Starks Timber Processing and T&C Concepts.