From Peterson Media
Returning to action with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series over the weekend, Justyn Cox had a bit of a learning weekend, as the Clarksburg, CA driver didn’t get the results he was looking for.
Going toe to toe with some of the best drivers in the country, Cox’s weekend got off to a tough start as he found himself lined up in a heat with some of the series’ heavy hitters.
Holding his own aboard his K&N Products/JSI Shocks/Rodgers Racing Engines entry, Cox scored third, and advanced to the feature event, where he would start in the seventh row.
Working around the Cocopah Speedway, Cox manhandled his racecar that continued to get tighter as the laps wore on, making it tough on the youngster to get moving forward.
Cox actually would lose several spots over the duration of the feature, as he brought home a 17th place finish.
“We had a right rear tire slowly go down on us during the feature, and it caused our car to tighten up lap by lap,” he said. “It was a handful, but we got some laps in, so that was a positive.”
Saturday night saw the VanDyke Motorsports team have an eventful heat race.
Starting on the pole of his heat, Cox fell into second behind Cole Wood, and during the race, a rock go into the left rear, knocking off the air pressure bleeder, and another rock got into the engine compartment puncturing the radiator, though he would hang to finish second and transfer to the feature.
“Our Saturday night heat was interesting,” Cox said. “Our tire pretty much went flat, and it was dragging the frame rail. I’m not sure how we finished, but we did, and put it in the feature.”
Staring 14th in the feature again, Cox and his JRD Endeavors/STL/College Cyclery entry quickly dove to the bottom of the speedway as he made some solid laps, but wasn’t able to get moving forward.
On the 15th lap, Cox elected to try the top of the Cocopah Speedway while everyone else worked the bottom of the speedway.
“My guys told me to work the top just to try something else, so we went up stairs and made some laps,” he explained.
The end result was Cox scoring an 18th place finish.
“Overall the trip was a good test session for us,” he said. “We learned some things about our cars, and we had a chance to gel as a team. I’m excited to get back home and do some racing, I think we will have a great shot at some wins.”
Justyn and his VanDyke Motorsports team would like to thank K&N Products, JSI Shocks, Rodgers Racing Engines, JRD Endeavors, Sacramento Theatrical Lighting, and College Cyclery for their support during the 2013 season.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-5, Wins-0, Top 5’s-0, Top 10’s-0
ON TAP: Cox and his team will head back home to California, where they will be in action this weekend at the Silver Dollar Speedway for the Silver Cup.
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