PETERSEN MEDIA
Running in both classes at the Kings Speedway on Saturday night for the Cotton Classic, DJ Netto had a pretty strong night as he finished seventh with the King of the West Series after contact in the USAC West Coast 360 race knocked him out of the second spot.
“It started off as a really good night for us,” Netto said. “Unfortunately we had a bad start in the winged race, and in the non-wing race we had some bad luck that knocked us out.”
With 27 cars on hand for the KWS portion of the event, Netto timed his Netto Ag/Penny Newman Grain/Bogie’s Auto Parts entry in ninth fastest.
Winning his heat race, Netto found himself on the pole for the Dash, which he won, putting himself on the front row for the feature event.
When the race went green, Netto was hard on the throttle, and did a monster wheel stand , and slipped back to the fifth spot when he got the front wheels set back down.
Running in the fifth spot, Netto battled with Jonathan Allard and Craig Stidham as he looked to get back towards the front, but was unable to gain ground.
Losing a couple spots on a late restart, Netto wound up coming home with a seventh place finish.
“We have had an issue with doing wheel stands on our starts lately, and we haven’t been able to fix it,” he said. “It is a shame because we had a pretty good car all night, and I wish we would have had the chance to battle with those guys up front.”
In the non-wing portion of the race, 27 cars again were in action, and Netto timed his No. 88N entry in third fastest.
Starting in the third row of his heat, Netto was able to score a fifth place finish and earn a spot in the Dash, where he found himself on the pole.
Getting a great start, Netto took command of the race and never looked back as he picked up the win, and started on the pole of the USAC West Coast 360 30-lap feature event.
When the race went green, Netto jumped out to the lead, as he led the first lap, but lost in on lap two to Markus Niemela, and then los the second spot to Kyle Hirst a lap later.
Getting back around Niemela, Netto took the second spot, until contact broke his W-Link, and his night was over.
“It was just one of those night’s,” Netto said. “I am hopeful that at Trophy Cup, we can put a couple of complete nights together.”
DJ and his Netto Racing team would like to thank Netto Agriculture, Penny Newman Grain, Bogies Auto Parts, and Vande Pol Enterprises for their support in 2013.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-45, Wins-2, Top 5’s-11, Top 10’s-24
ON TAP: DJ and his Netto Motorsports team will be in action this weekend at the Trophy Cup in Tulare, CA.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with DJ and his team by following him on twitter @DJNetto88.