BARBERVILLE, Fla. (February 22, 2017) – Jason Sides kept his top-10 streak alive at the DIRTcar Nationals last weekend.
Sides garnered a ninth-place result during the middle show of the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series tripleheader at Volusia Speedway Park to give him at least one top 10 at the event each year since 2007.
“It was nice to keep that streak going and I felt like we had at least a top 10 car each night, but we ran into some tough luck,” he said.
Sides had intended to kick off the marquee event a week ago Wednesday during the opening round with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions. However, a mechanical issue in hot laps sidelined the team for the remainder of the night. Sides elected not to compete on Thursday to save his equipment for the World of Outlaws action, which began on Friday.
Sides started the season opener on a strong note as he qualified fourth quickest before winning a heat race to lock into the dash. A fourth-place result in the dash lined him up on the outside of the second row for the main event.
“We had a top-five car and a post on the front wing broke early,” he said. “I think we still could have possibly salvaged a top 10 or close to it, but we had a caution and on the restart the car washed up in the dirty air so we lost a lot of positions.”
Sides ended the night with a 21st-place result.
Saturday’s show was postponed to Sunday afternoon because of rain. Unfortunately, Sides drew a high number to go out late in qualifying on the tricky track.
“We qualified 12th, which was really good considering how late we went out and the track conditions,” he said.
Sides then placed third in a heat race to lock into the 12th starting position for the main event.
“I think everyone was concerned about the track taking rubber since we were racing during the heat of the day with the sun beaming on the track all day, but we were able to move around a bit,” he said. “I thought they did a really good job with the track.”
Sides picked up a trio of positions to post a ninth-place finish.
The event wrapped up Sunday night with Sides qualifying third quickest before again winning a heat race to move onto the dash. A sixth-place result in the dash lined him up on the outside of the third row for the feature.
“We were running around fifth or sixth a couple of laps into the race when someone got loose in front of me and I had nowhere to go,” he said. “A bunch of cars crashed and we got upside down, which destroyed the car. I want to extend my thoughts to everyone who was injured during the incident.”
Sides was credited with a 23rd-place finish. He is slated to compete this Thursday through Saturday at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Fla., for the 16th annual Ronald Laney Memorial King of the 360s. Sides has won a preliminary night during the event each of the past two years.