By Andrew Kunas
In the 2009 racing season, Sutherlin, Oregon driver Rob Held scaled things back a little bit and focused on racing in his home state of Oregon. In 2010, Rob is looking to get back into the thick of things as he intends to race with the ASCS Northwest Region around Washington and Oregon.
Driving his own No. 68 machine backed by sponsors such as FK Rod Ends, Bell, Custom Automotive Restoration Services (C.A.R.S), John Carroll Construction and Oregon Aero, Held had a few highlights in 2009. His best finish of the season was a third place run at a weekly winged 360 sprint car event at Southern Oregon Speedway on June 27th.
Held also scored a pair of Top 10 finishes with the ASCS Northwest Region. After coming out of the B-Main, Held raced his way up to eighth place before settling for tenth place at the Northwest Speed Week opener at Southern Oregon Speedway on July 13th. On August 15th, Held raced at Coos Bay Speedway for the first time and came away with another tenth place finish there.
A pair of untimely wild crashes in the latter part of the 2008 season left Held without much equipment, and was one of the bigger reasons Held was forced to scale back in 2009. However, Held is in the process of trying to secure sponsors and funds with the hope of running the entire 2010 ASCS Northwest Region schedule and be one of the top contenders. Held was doing very well with ASCS in 2008 before his two crashes derailed his season, at one point sitting as high as fourth place in the season standings. The ASCS Northwest Region schedule currently shows 19 events at nine different tracks in Washington, Oregon and Montana.
Rob wants to thank everyone who helped his team during a trying 2009 season, and is looking forward to a successful 2010 season in the Pacific Northwest. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor of the Held Racing No. 68 team is encouraged to contact Rob. Rob Held is one of the up and coming sprint car racers in the Pacific Northwest and a former main event winner. More information on Rob and his team can be found online at http://www.robheldracing.com.
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Rob Held’s sponsors
FK Rod Ends
Bell
Custom Automotive Restoration Services
John Carroll Construction
Oregon Aero
Yarbrough Ranch
Double R Powder Coating
Smith Motorsports
Murphy Plywood
NAPA Auto Parts of Sutherlin
Barnes Fuel Oil
PDM2 Machine Works
Independent Motor Rebuilders