PETERSEN MEDIA
– The California scene can be tricky for national travelers due to their nature of being small and tight bullrings. With five races in five nights, Cody Darrah saved his best for last as he scored a fourth place finish at the Antioch Speedway on Monday night, in his first trip to the venue.
Speedweek kicked off Thursday night for the 59th running of the Gold Cup Race of Champions in Chico, CA. with 44 cars checked in for opening night, Darrah timed his SurePoint Medical/Team ASE/Ti22 No. 4 in 14th fastest putting him on the pole of his heat race.
A second place finish in his heat put the KKR No.4 in the dash where he lined up in the fourth row and ended up finishing in the ninth spot, putting his Sage/Roth Motorsports/Schroth Racing machine in the fifth row for the feature event.
The feature event saw a tough cushion build up all around the track and the bottom groove was slicking off, but many chose to utilize it as the top was simply tough. Riding inside the top-10 around the midway point of the feature, Darrah found himself spun around in turns one and two.
Restarting from the rear of the field, the Red Lion, PA driver was able to work his way back up to a 14th place finish which would be huge for event points.
Friday night the event gained three more cars pushing the total up the 47, and with another complete night on tap, CD4 timed in 14th quick for the second night in a row, again putting him on the pole of heat two.
Finishing second to Jonathan Allard, Darrah would qualify for the dash where he would again be in the last row, and would end up finishing 10th, putting him in the fifth row of the feature event.
Unfortunately, Darrah’s feature event would be short lived. Heading down the backstretch on the opening lap, Jac Haudenschild got out of shape in front of Darrah and contact ensued resulting in a series of flips down the back-stretch for Darrah, ending his night.
Fortunately with qualifying and heat race efforts, Darrah sat 16th in event points, the last car to lock into the Saturday night feature.
The Saturday night racetrack was very heavy early on during the 40-lap feature, but as laps wore down the track began to slick off, which is just what Darrah hoped for starting that deep in the field.
Though passing was still tough as the track remained fast, Darrah was able to work his way forward and score an 11th place finish.
“It was a much better Gold Cup for us than it was last year,” Darrah said with a smile. “We just about emptied out the trailer last year, and to lock in this year and end up 11th is a good feeling, but I think we had a better car than the results showed.”
Sunday night the California swing headed down the road to scenic Calistoga, CA as they invaded the famous Calistoga Speedway.
With 22 cars on hand Darrah kicked the night off by timing in fifth quick on the ½ mile track putting him in the second row of the heat two where he wound up finishing in the fourth spot.
Lining up for the feature in the 11th position, Darrah, like much of the field, was unable to go anywhere as the track was extremely narrow and rough. Darrah would end up scoring a 10th place finish.
“It wasn’t a very fun track to race on,” he explained. “It was so narrow, that you basically just got in line and hoped the guy in front of you bounced over the cushion that had built up.”
Monday night the five-night speedweek came to a close at the Antioch Speedway in Antioch, CA, a new track for CD4.
He adapted nicely to the 1/3 mile facility as he timed in third fastest, putting him in the third heat race. Coming from the second row, Darrah picked up the convincing win and found himself starting fourth in the dash and would end up finishing in the five hole.
In the feature event, Darrah got a great start and quickly advanced to the third spot as he chased down Allard and Donny Schatz. Pounding the high-side, Darrah kept them in striking distance even with a pair of stoppages.
On the final restart with two to go, Darrah got hung up by Allard, who spun his tires, and wound up finishing in the fourth spot.
“I think we had a pretty good car tonight, a car that was capable of winning the race,” Darrah said. “On the final restart Allard spun his tires and held up the outside, and he would up falling back to fourth.”
ON TAP- The Outlaws head back to Iowa now for a race on Friday night at the Clay County Speedway and then a race at Deer Creek Speedway in Minnesota on Saturday night.
STAY CONNECTED- Check in to www.codydarrah.com or visit his facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cody-Darrah/164513250262145?ref=ts for the latest news on Cody.