PETERSEN MEDIA
– Closing out his 2012 season, Kyle Hirst pulled double duty at the Western World Championps at the Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, AZ over the weekend as he scored a fourth place finish aboard the Van Dyke 5h, after a bleeder issue didn’t allow him to start the non winged feature.
Kicking the weekend off on Thursday night, Hirtst and his Van Dyke Motorsports team were in action as he kicked the night off by starting third in the second heat race on the 1/3 mile oval.
Scoring a second place finish in the heat, the Sacramento, CA pilot would then put his Lucas Oil Products No.5h machine on the front row of the second qualifier, which he won, and put his entry on the front row of the 30-lap feature event.
Sharing the front row with Brady Bacon, Hirst lost the drag race into the first corner, as Bacon worked the low side of the speedway to perfection.
Keeping the early leader in shouting distance, Hirst ran strong in the second position as they race through traffic. Doing what he would to track down Bacon, who had stretched to a sizeable lead, Hirst held on to the second spot, putting him in the second row for the Saturday night finale.
Friday night, KH was once again in action as he was behind the wheel of the Jimmy Norman owned No.97 non-winged sprint car.
Drawing a very high pill number, Hirst lined up sixth in the third heat race, and was able to work his way up to a fourth place finish, and earn some very important passing points.
Staring on the front row of his qualifier again along side Brady Bacon, Hirst got off to a slow start, and actually slipped back to the fourth spot at the finish, putting his No.97 machine in the sixth row for the ‘A’.
As the race got underway, Hirst quickly jumped up into the tenth spot, as he eyed the seventh spot, to guarantee a Saturday night lock-in spot.
Racing with the likes of Jerry Coons, Jr, and Shane Cottle, Hirst would grab the eight spot, and just narrowly miss out on the final transfer position.
Saturday night saw KH in heat and B main action in the non-winged portion of the program, while he waited for the feature of the winged portion, as he was scheduled to start in the second row.
Taking advantage of his front row heat race starting position, Hirst scored a very impressive heat race win, and points tabulated from that plus from his preliminary night put him on the front row , with the top four finishers transferring into the feature.
Just like his heat, Hirst again rocketed away from the field and picked up the win as he got a transfer into the feature, as he was slated to start in the eight row.
When cars made their way to the speedway, KH was taking his position in the eight row when it was discovered that he had a flat tire, and attempted to get to the work area to change it, but the race went green, and Hirst was unable to make the start.
“It was a bum deal for sure to not be able to start the A, after racing our way into it,” Hirst said. “I have to thank Jimmy Norman and all of his guys for busting their butts all weekend, and giving me a shot to run some non wing stuff.”
When the winged cars took the track, Hirst lined his Van Dyke No.5h up in the third spot on the very slick, and abrasive Canyon Speedway Park surface.
As the race got underway, Hirst fell back into the fourth spot as he quickly went to the top of the speedway looking to get back on the podium.
With Wayne Johnson behind him in fifth, Hirst continued to pound the top, until Johnson found the rubber down low, and blew past KH and put him back in the fifth spot.
Running in the rubber and in fifth, Hirst took advantage of Brady Bacon and Jason Johnson’s misfortune of blown tires, and took the third spot back over.
Hoping to learn from them, Hirst got conservative, and looked to save his tire, but that allowed Tony Bruce, Jr to rocket around him for third, and drop KH back to fourth where he went on to finish.
“We had an awesome winged car all weekend,” Hirst said. “Harley Van Dyke gave me a great car, and I can’t thank him enough for letting him drive his car these last couple of weekends to finish out the season in the states.”
ON TAP: Kyle is now set to head to Austrailia in December to compete for a couple of car owners. Stay on the lookout for a press release coming in the coming days announcing Hirst’s plans.