By Starks Racing PR
Puyallup, Wash.—May 24, 2012 — Trey Starks feels like he left a little bit on the table last weekend en route to a podium finish in his first visit of the season to Grays Harbor Raceway in his home state of Washington. The 16-year-old will return to the high-banked three-eighths-mile this weekend to compete in the season-opening Spring Showdown for the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Northwest Region, an event he finished second and sixth in last season.
Starks will take to the track on Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27, as he makes his second and third starts of the season at Grays Harbor, which is located less than an hour from his hometown of Puyallup, Wash. He finished third at the track last Saturday night.
“It’s a good caliber of racing when you are racing with ASCS drivers, whether it’s the National Tour or the Northwest Region,” said Starks. “You definitely have to be on your game racing with them and this weekend will be no exception. We’ve had some good runs with the ASCS Northwest last year and hopefully we can continue that this weekend.”
Last weekend at Grays Harbor, Starks opened the night by turning the fifth-fastest lap in time trials. He followed that up with a third-place finish in his heat race. In the 30-lap main event, he lined up sixth and after falling back a couple of spots on the opening two circuits, he began his march to the front. He took the checkered flag in third, nearly taking the runner-up on the final lap.
“You always want to start the night off strong and that gives you some confidence as the night goes on,” shared Starks. “We know we can run up front and a key is not slowing down to the speed of some of the slower cars. You have to be both aggressive and smart. We feel pretty good heading into this weekend.”
Starks, who finished third overall in the ASCS Northwest Region points last season, has primarily competed in 410-sprint car races this season, but has sprinkled in a few 360-starts, including at Kings Speedway on Hanford, Calif., where he picked up his first win of the season on April 7. The young driver opened the 2012 campaign with the ASCS National Tour at Canyon Raceway Park in Arizona back in March. He followed that up with five consecutive starts with the World of Outlaws on the West Coast and has competed with a 410-cubic inch engine under the hood in a total of 10 races this season.
“We have been running so many 410 shows this year on faster tracks, that last weekend I really noticed the different between the 360 and 410 engines,” noted Starks. “A 360-engine doesn’t quite get off the corner as well and doesn’t have nearly as much torque as the 410. The first two races we ran this year were in a 360 then we didn’t run one again for quite a while, so it did feel like an adjustment last weekend.”
Starks competed at the famed Knoxville Raceway in Iowa with the World of Outlaws last month as well as at the legendary Eldora Speedway in Ohio earlier this month. He won a heat race at each of those half-miles to earn a spot in the World of Outlaws dash. He also picked up the KSE Hard Charger Award twice this season for passing the most cars in the main event with the World of Outlaws. He looks to continue to use what he learned racing against the best sprint car drivers in the world when he races closer to home.
“It definitely helps your confidence when you run with the Outlaws and have a good night, with all of the talented drivers they have out there,” said Starks. “You also can’t beat up on yourself when you are not outrunning people, because like last weekend there were good cars at Grays Harbor and there will be even more good cars there this weekend. You always try to push yourself, because you know you can run up front.”
Starks enters this weekend with one win on the season to go along with three podium finishes, including a third-place showing last weekend at Grays Harbor.
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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