Inside Line Promotions
KOKOMO, Ind. (June 18, 2013) – For his first Indiana Midget Week, Andrew Felker made an impression.
He recorded three top-10 finishes and nearly added two others during the five consecutive days of racing in the Hoosier State, where Felker finished third in points with USAC’s Honda National Dirt Midget Series.
“It was real strong all week,” he said. “Especially four of the five tracks being places I’ve never been before. It’d been five years since I’d even been to Kokomo. I’ve never done a full five-day swing all at once with this caliber of cars.”
Felker opened the week on Wednesday at Gas City I-69 Speedway in Gas City, where he qualified eighth quickest and finished fourth in his heat race to start the feature on the pole.
“I started pole and led the first lap,” he said. “I battled with (Christopher) Bell and (Kyle) Larson for the bigger part of the race. The lack of experience there hurt me. Some of the race I wasn’t sure where I needed to be on the track.”
Felker’s fourth-place finish was his best of the week and his seventh top five this season.
He followed that performance by qualifying second quickest and charging from sixth to third in his heat race on Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville. Felker then recorded a seventh-place result in the main event after starting fifth.
On Friday, Felker qualified fourth quickest and placed fourth in his heat race to again start the feature on the inside of the third row at Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington. However, a couple of miscues dropped Felker to his worst finish of the week – 17th.
His lone time of qualifying outside the top nine came on Saturday at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, where Felker timed in 20th quickest.
“Our first goal when it comes to running with USAC guys is to make every show and put up top 10s,” he said. “I’ve never been a strong qualifier. I’m getting better and we only had that one race of not qualifying in the top 10. Everything really fell together and I’m extremely happy with the results.”
Felker won his heat race for the fifth time this season and he charged from 17th to eighth in the main event.
Yet his best performance came the following night, when a trip to Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo wrapped up Indiana Midget Week on Sunday.
“The biggest one was Kokomo,” he said. “I went out extremely late to qualify and still managed to get a ninth-place qualifying lap.”
Felker then maneuvered from fourth to win his second straight heat race and he earned the pole in the main event. After a couple of miscues dropped him back several positions, Felker began to make his way toward the front and was working on a pass for the lead when he “got into the cushion a couple of times too many.”
“We bent the jacob’s ladder trading slide jobs with Larson for second,” he said. “We were just past halfway when we tore it up.”
Felker ran a conservative race to end up with an 11th-place finish.
“We started off the week strong, had a few errors in the middle and finished strong,” he said. “I feel like we had a car strong enough to win.”
Felker is set to compete at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis., on Sunday with USAC, POWRi and the Badger National Midgets.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 12 – Gas City I-69 Speedway in Gas City, Ind. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 4 (5); Feature: 4 (1).
June 13 – Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 7 (5).
June 14 – Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Ind. – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 4 (6); Feature: 17 (5).
June 15 – Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind. – Qualifying: 20; Heat race: 1 (-); Feature: 8 (17).
June 16 – Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Ind. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 1 (4); Feature: 11 (1).
SEASON STATS –
18 races, 1 win, 7 top fives, 13 top 10s, 16 top 15s, 18 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sunday at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis., with USAC/POWRi/Badger National Midgets
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: www.AndrewFelkerRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
VIDEO –
Here is a link to XSANTV’s in-car footage of Felker finishing second at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill., on April 26: http://youtu.be/tSwLTs5L1Zk
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Auto Xpress
Located in Joplin, Mo., Auto Xpress is an oil and tire shop that specializes in being a preventative maintenance headquarter. For more information, visit AutoXpressJoplin.com.
“Auto Xpress offers a very reliable and efficient service,” Felker said. “They are also partners of the race cars and have supported our racing for most of my career now.”
Felker would also like to thank 66 Truck & Foreign Salvage, Fontana Automotive, Engler Machine & Tool, MelMark Pipe & Supply, Schluckebier Farms, Pro Powder Coating, CSI Shocks, All-Pro Auto Interiors, Aggressive Graphics, Momo’s Racing Engines, KBR Performance, Weld Wheels, KMK Enterprises, Heath II, Wilwood, Maxim Racewear and Leading Edge Composites for their continued support.