PETERSEN MEDIA
Bolting a 410ci power-plant inside the frame rails of his Van Dyke Motorsports No. 5h, Justyn Cox made the best of his first starts with the bigger engine package since 2011, and scored a pair of seventh place finishes at the Silver Dollar Speedway.
“It had been a couple of years since I had a 410ci engine under my hood, and I have to admit, they are a blast to drive.”
Shaking down the fresh Rodgers Racing Engine on Friday night during a weekly show at the Silver Dollar Speedway, Cox got off to a sluggish start as a late qualifying draw saw him time in 14th fastest.
Putting his Lucas Oil/K&N/JRI Shocks backed machine on the front row of his heat race, Cox got the jump and ran away with his heat, putting him in the feature event.
“We were really good in our heat, so I was looking forward to the feature, as I knew we were going to start pretty far back,” he said.
Lining up 13th in the feature event, Cox slowly worked his way inside the top-10, as he worked his way around the bottom of the track in one and two, and raced around the cushion in three and four.
Sitting in the 8th spot on a lap 17 restart, the Clarksburg, CA driver got past Willie Croft and Dominic Scelzi to jump into the sixth spot, before he got Sean Becker for fifth with just four laps to go.
Crossing the line in the fifth spot, it was deemed Cox jumped the lap 17 restart, and he was pushed back two positions, and ended up seventh.
“I’m not sure why I got penalized,” Cox said. “The only thing I can think of, is I wasn’t nose to tail, but I did not pass anyone before the cone, so I figured that was okay as there was no drivers meeting. Aside from that, we had a great car, and to come from 13th, and essentially run fifth or seventh is pretty good with a new engine.”
Following the shake down on Friday, Cox and his team were back at the Silver Dollar Speedway for the 23rd Annual Dave Bradway Jr, Memorial Race against the King of the West Series.
With an unforeseen rain shower blanketing the speedway prior to qualifications, Cox was worried about his low pill he drew.
It ended up working out for him, as he timed in eighth fastest against a very stout field of cars.
Lining up third in his heat, Cox was able to slide past Carson Macedo for the second spot, as he chased after Dominic Scelzi.
Settling for second, Cox transferred into the feature event, where he would line up in the fifth row.
With the preferred line being to high-side in one and two, Cox did not get the jump he had hoped for, and slipped back to the 13th spot.
On the extremely slick track, Cox made up ground after the initial start, and worked his way up to tenth by the time the first caution waved.
Running inside the 10th spot much of the race, Cox made a big move on Willie Croft and Craigh Stidham to grab a pair of positions down the front stretch, as he found a bit of moisture and took the eight spot.
Running in eight for the waning laps, Cox would end up seventh as the leader broke.
“Overall it was a great learning weekend for us with the 410,” he said. “The 5h team is as strong as ever, and I have a lot of confidence strapping in every night right now.”
Justyn and his VanDyke Motorsports team would like to thank Lucas Oil, K&N Products, JRI Shocks, Rodgers Racing Engines, K1 Safety Gear, JRD Endeavors, Sacramento Theatrical Lighting, and College Cyclery for their support during the 2013 season.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-14, Wins-1, Top 5’s-6, Top 10’s-9
ON TAP: Cox and the Van Dyke Motorsports team will potentially be in action at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night, and will follow the King of the West Series to the Petaluma Speedway on Saturday night.
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