In years past the DIRTcar Nationals has simply not gone well for Destiny Motorsports. After a complete overhaul over the winter, Destiny Motorsports, and driver Paul McMahan, put together their most successful trip to Volusia Speedway Park as the team recorded a trio of Top-10 finishes.
“This team certainly got better each night out,” McMahan said. “We aren’t quite where we need to be, but we are all happy with the progress that we are making as we continue to come together.”
The DIRTcar Nationals would kick off on Wednesday night with McMahan lining up for the feature event in the ninth row.
As the race came to life, McMahan would struggle to get going aboard the MonDak Portables/Ft. Union Supply and Trading/Champion Brand Lubricants No. 4 entry.
As the laps clicked down, McMahan would opt to drop down to the low side of the speedway with 12 laps to go. Sitting back in 18th, McMahan’s entry would come to life. Having to slow his pace drastically to stick the bottom, the Nashville, TN driver showed how important patience was as he moved forward in a hurry.
Picking up nearly a spot a lap, McMahan would end the night with a very nice 10th place finish.
Back in action on Thursday night, McMahan and company would pick up a third place finish in heat race action, and line up in the sixth row of the feature event. Battling for position within the Top-10 early in the race, the track would soon take rubber, and cars would settle in line and click off laps around the near ½ mile facility.
A late restart would see McMahan fall outside of the Top-10 when the race resumed, but a nice move in turns one and two would see him work by Rico Abreu and Aaron Reutzel to put the All Star Performance/KSE Racing Products/FK Indy backed entry in the ninth spot at the finish line.
Friday night would bring the start to the 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series season, and McMahan would open things up by timing in 22nd fastest.
Lining up sixth in his heat race, McMahan would pick up a couple spots in the first couple of laps to get into the fourth spot before a car falling out of the race late would place him third at the finish line, and in the 10th starting spot for the feature event.
In the opening stages of the race, McMahan would hang around the Top-10, but as laps expired he would lose spots drastically, and later reported that he started to lose power as he slipped back to finish in the 18th spot.
Going through what the team thought was the issue on Saturday morning, the car would fire in engine heat, but would not come to life for hot laps, forcing an engine change prior to time trials.
Able to get a lap at the end, McMahan would lay down a dismal time, but Mother Nature was on his side and the night would eventually be rained out and pushed back to Sunday afternoon.
Timing in eighth fastest in time trials on Sunday afternoon, McMahan would run second in his heat race, and fifth in the Dash as he lined up fifth in the 25-lap feature event.
On an extremely slick and slow racing surface, the Elk Grove, CA native would jump into the fourth spot and looked to be well on his way to a Top-Five finish. Unfortunately a couple of late restarts would hamper McMahan and he would find himself seventh at the stripe.
Sunday night would bring the final night of racing, and rear end issues would plague the Destiny Motorsports team. Racing into the feature via the Last Chance Showdown, an issue would arise on the No. 4 machine but with no time to make a change McMahan would end the busy week by taking the green flag and pulling off the racing surface.
“We are certainly in a much better spot than we were a year ago, and that is a great feeling to have,” McMahan added. “We had a couple of tough nights but fortunately it wasn’t anything major and both things were really out of our control. My guys really worked hard and came together even more, and we are all really excited to get back to it in a couple of weeks.”
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.