The first race weekend has come and gone for Paul McMahan and the Destiny Motorsports team, and with a new mechanic McMahan was happy with how things progressed.
“Thursday night we really struggled, but nobody got down since it was our first night out,” McMahan said. “We worked at it and really made it a nice weekend to build off of heading into Volusia Speedway Park this weekend.”
Timing in third fastest in his group on Thursday night’s season opener, McMahan would finish in the third spot in his heat race and transfer the MonDak Portables/Ft. Union Supply and Trading/Champion Brand Lubricants entry into the feature event.
After extensive track work prior to the feature event, McMahan wasn’t able to get his No. 4 machine going in the wright direction as he would slip back and finish 21st.
With a night of essentially testing in the rear view mirror, McMahan and team would come back on Friday night and again time in third fastest in their qualifying group which would place the All Star Performance/KSE Racing Products/FK Indy backed entry on the front row of heat race number two.
Winning the heat handily, McMahan would advance into the night’s first dash where a third place finish would place him in the first starting spot for the 30-lap feature event.
The race would need a couple of tries to get going, but once the green finally flew the inside line was slow to go and McMahan would slip back to the eighth spot. Spending much of the race battling with Chad Kemenah, and Greg Hodnett, McMahan would take the checkered flag with an eighth place finish.
Looking to keep improving during the Saturday night Bubba Nationals finale, McMahan would time in second fastest in his group before finishing third during his heat race.
Advancing to the ‘A’ main, McMahan would grid the field from the 14th starting position.
Using a nice start, McMahan was able to gain a couple of spots in the opening laps as he worked up into the 11th spot and battled with reigning All Star champ, Chad Kemenah.
Flirting with a position in the top-10 late in the race, McMahan would battle Ryan Smith and Ian Madsen but would come up just short and end the weekend with an 11th place finish.
“Overall we learned a bunch in three nights,” McMahan said. “It was nice to have Shane Bowers back on my side, and it was a good start for this team. We still have some work to do, but I think we are in a pretty good spot heading into the World of Outlaws season opener. Rick and Barb Rogers continue to support us so much, so we are really hoping for better results this year.”
Destiny Motorsports would like to thank MonDak Portables, Ft. Union Supply and Trading, Champion Brand Lubricants, All Star Performance, KSE Racing Products, FK Indy, HRP, KPC, PPM Titanium, Chalk Stix, Wilwood, Kieizer Wheels, Simpson, Petersen Media, My Race Pass, Speedway Engines, FK Rod Ends, Boss Signs and Graphics, Classic Ink, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Hoosier Tires North, and BulterBuilt for their continued support.