From URSS
Calhan, CO — (July 4, 2013) — Just ask Adam Trimble the difference a year makes.
On Thursday at El Paso County Speedway in Calhan, Colo., Trimble won his fourth career United Rebel Sprint Series event on the Fourth of July — a year after he finished second at the same event and then was involved in a serious accident on the trip home.
“With all the bad stuff that happened to us last year, it was a good night,” Trimble said.
Trimble finished second to Brian Hardman at the July 4th event in 2012. On his trip home, he and his family were hit by a drunk driver just a few miles from his home. The semi’s trailer was severely damaged from the high-speed impact, and his sprint car was damaged as well. Luckily, no one in the cab of the truck was seriously injured — although his father did have back issues after the accident that required several trips to doctors.
“I told the cops that night I had wrecked a lot of stuff, and that was the scariest thing I had been through,” Trimble said.
The accident ended his racing season and forced him to find a new hauler and car. He found a new hauler near the end of last season and finished up a newer XXX car in the winter he had bought.
The only thing missing was a chance to race, which he finally got when the 2013 season rolled around. And just a few races into the year, Trimble was back in victory lane Thursday night.
All four of his URSS career wins have been at Calhan.
“I was thinking that I can’t believe I won the thing,” Trimble said about crossing the finish line Thursday night. “I made an extra lap to make sure the race was over. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t the white flag I had seen. … I made another round and saw it was over. It was good to get that win.”
Trimble got the win, but it didn’t come easily. He started eighth and moved quickly into the third spot behind pole-sitter Brian Hardman — who won four of five events at the track in 2012 — and Jake Bubak, the 2012 URSS national runner-up who won the Colorado Region and national Rookie of the Year honors.
Trimble said he watched as Bubak made several attempts to get by Hardman. But when Bubak went hard into turn one and slid up the track, Trimble drove underneath him into second place.
It wasn’t long before Hardman suffered the same consequences, sliding high out of the groove on the slick track, allowing Trimble to take the lead.
“They redid the track and put more banking in it,” Trimble said. “I’m not sure if they put any new surface on it. But definitely running there before helped, though.”
Trimble would lead the final half of the race, even avoiding spinning lap cars and other lap traffic to hold on for the win.
“I feel like as a team, we’re getting a lot better,” he said. “At the same time, everybody is getting better. There’s not just a few guys who are winning all the races. Hardman won four of five last year at Calhan, and Bubak won the other one. It was a pretty tough crowd. I’ve gained a lot of experience (in the URSS).”
Hardman and Bubak would be caught up in a caution with lap cars, and Hardman failed to finish the race. Bubak finished eighth.
Zac Taylor finished second, with Mark Walinder in third and Zach Merritt in fourth.
Trimble won the Keizer Aluminum Wheels Hard Charger Award, moving up seven spots.
Feature results
1. Adam Trimble, 2. Zac Taylor, 3. Mark Walinder, 4. Zach Merritt, 5. John Jacob, 6. Blake Smith, 7. Mike Hathaway, 8. Jake Bubak, 9. Butch Hardman, 10. Coby Pearce, 11. Kevin Schramek, 12. Clint Schubert (DNF), 13. Brian Hardman (DNF), 14. Tara Jo Christie (DNF), 15. Luke Lucero (DNF), 16. Ian Christie (DNS).