By Starks Racing PR
Puyallup, Wash.—May 6, 2012 — Trey Starks seems to have a knack for quickly getting up to tracks that he is visiting for the first time. Just a week after the 16-year-old made a very successful debut at the famed Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, winning a World of Outlaws heat race for the first time in his young career, he showed that same prowess this past weekend, as he made his first start at the legendary Eldora Speedway in Ohio, again picking up a heat race victory to earn a spot in the dash.
“I really like Eldora,” said Starks on Saturday night after the main event. “It’s a fast track and we did pretty good for our first time here. I really like the high-banked tracks. It was a lot of fun racing here and I want to come back and do a little better next time.”
The 16-year-old took to the track on Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5 for the Outlaw Thunder by Goodyear Weekend at the iconic half-mile. He qualified 13th in the opener and 14th in the finale, to make the 16-car heat race inversion each night, earning a heat race pole position. Starks won the second heat race on Saturday night by nearly two-seconds, to make his way into the dash, where he finished 10th. The third-generation would start on the outside of the fifth row for the 30-lap main event, and would finish a solid 15th.
“It was kind of intimidating on Friday when I got here and saw the track for the first time,” shared Starks. “I thought, wow, this place has high banks. The intimidation went away when we made that first lap in practice at speed.”
Starks, who competed with the World of Outlaws at Knoxville, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Perris Auto (Calif.) Speedway earlier this year, has now logged laps on five half-miles in his young career. The native of Puyallup, Wash. has finished 17th or better in three of his five starts this season on half-miles, earning a spot in the World of Outlaws dash in two of those events.
“We were used to the speed, having been at Knoxville already, and I really think that helped a lot,” noted Starks, when asked about getting up to speed so quick at Eldora. “If you trust in your car, which I do, then you are usually able to get around the corner. It was definitely a learning experience, and we learned a lot and have a great foundation to build on.”
On Friday night in the first heat race, Starks lined up next to Jac Haudenschild, who has been competing and winning at Eldora for well over 30 years, with perennial Eldora contender Dale Blaney starting on the second row of that heat race. Starks would finish third in the eight-lap heat, which would slot him 15th on the grid for the main event. He completed 18 laps, before pulling off the track due to spark plug issues, finishing 20th.
“It was good to know that I could run with the veteran guys that have been coming here for years,” explained Starks. “You know guys like that are fast here, so when you are able to keep up with them, it shows you can do it, and you have a good foundation for the next time you come back.”
On both Friday and Saturday night in the main event, Starks finished ahead of drivers that have been racing Eldora Speedway longer than he has been alive. The young driver entered the weekend with the goal of completing as many laps as possible at the half-mile and learning as much as he could. Running wheel-to-wheel with veteran drivers each time he took to the track, helped ease the learning curve and boost his confidence.
“For our first trip to Eldora it was a very good weekend,” Starks said. “We made the main event both nights and almost made all 30 laps both nights. We got 30 good, solid laps in on Saturday night and ran with a bunch of really fast guys. Now we know what it’s like to race with them on big half-miles like this.”
Starks will head back to the West Coast next weekend to compete with the Cancen Oil King of the West Sprint Car Series presented by Goodyear at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. on Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12. He raced at Tulare earlier this season with the World of Outlaws, coming from the 22nd starting spot to finishing 13th, to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.
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.
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