Inside Line Promotions
PORT ROYAL, Pa. (Sept. 10, 2019) – Trey Starks enjoyed his return to Pennsylvania last weekend during a trio of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions shows.
The Gobrecht Motorsports driver established a new track record on Thursday at Bedford Speedway in Bedford before he bested more than 50 other drivers on Friday during the opening night of the Tuscarora 50 weekend hosted by Port Royal Speedway.
The action began on Thursday as Starks set quick time during qualifying, advanced from fourth to second place in a heat race and maneuvered from sixth to fourth in the dash to line up on the outside of the second row for the A Main.
“Whatever we were doing that car was visibly faster than the rest of the field,” he said. “Jeff (McCall) had the car perfect and the motor was running great. It made my job easy. Some tracks you get rewarded for driving really hard and I don’t think Knoxville Raceway or Jackson Motorplex are those types of tracks. We’ve spent most of our season at those two tracks so it was nice to get somewhere where I could hold it wide open and let it eat. It was a really nice feeling to have a fast car all night. Unfortunately, we had a flat in the feature running fourth. I don’t know if we had the car to win, but we were top three, top five. It was a good opening night back in Pennsylvania.”
Starks was battling inside the top five late in the race when the flat tire resulted in a 20th-place finish.
He carried that speed into Friday’s All Star event at Port Royal Speedway, where Starks qualified fourth quickest out of 58 drivers.
“It felt really good to start strong at Port Royal,” he said. “We drew a good number, which helps. But Port Royal isn’t a track that changes a lot during time trials. We went out early and went pretty fast. We were on the front row of our heat and ran second to Gio (Scelzi) the whole time. We had a restart with four laps to go and we had a tire going down pretty bad. We barely held on to second to make the dash.
“We pulled the pole position for the second dash and I tried to just get a good start and set a good pace. It’s huge to start on the front row. We won that to start second in the A Main, which was a little different. We had two chances at the start. I tried to get a jump on Aaron (Reutzel), but the inside was the preferred line. I fell in line and we ran about nine green flag laps. He got out on me at the start, but I felt like we started reeling him in once we got to traffic. I didn’t get a good restart and instead of racing for the lead we slid back to third. About that time Aaron got a flat tire. I was kicking myself for letting James (McFadden) get by me because I knew that’d be me in the lead. We had a restart and I put a slider on him in turns three and four. I tried to make sure I didn’t lose any speed. I knew the top was where to be so I ran it as hard as I could. We had a couple of restarts and I changed my restart style a little. I put my head down and ran as hard as I could. It was great to get a win against a great field of cars. I think it backs up our Knoxville win (during the Knoxville Nationals last month) a little bit and it gives us more momentum going into these last few weeks.”
Starks’ victory was his second of the season and second career at Port Royal Speedway.
The weekend concluded on Saturday with Starks overcoming a poor qualifying run to rally through the field and charge from 24th to 13 th in the main event.
“The race track was lot different on Saturday and we weren’t prepared for it,” he said. “We were chasing it all night and put ourselves behind big time in qualifying. The good part is we tried to stay focused and keep working. We started seventh and ran fifth in the heat, which put us in a better spot in the B Main. We had to finish sixth and I knew I had to go on the start and keep moving forward. I got that sixth and final transfer spot. In the feature it was a high-speed chess match. We picked off cars when we could get them. I think I picked off a handful at the start and then got them one by one. All in all it was a good weekend.”
The team plans to compete this Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Saturday at Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Pa., during the Jim Nace Memorial 37th annual National Open presented by Red Robin.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 5 – Bedford Speedway in Bedford, Pa. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (4); Dash: 4 (6); Feature: 20 (4).
Sept. 6 – Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 2 (2); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (2).
Sept. 7 – Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. – Qualifying: 42; Heat race: 5 (7); B Main: 6 (12); Feature: 13 (24).
SEASON STATS –
37 races, 2 wins, 8 top fives, 16 top 10s, 20 top 15s, 26 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Saturday at Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Pa., for the Jim Nace Memorial 37 th annual National Open presented by Red Robin
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Starks55Trey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreyStarksRacing?fref=ts
APPAREL –
Starks has t-shirts and hoodies for sale at http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com .
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – E-Z-GO
E-Z-GO has become a world leader in transportation and a leading global manufacturer of golf cars, utility vehicles and personal transportation vehicles. For more information, visit http://www.ezgo.txtsv.com.
“E-Z-GO has supported Scott Gobrecht and his business for a long time,” Starks said. “We all appreciate their support of our team.”
Gobrecht Motorsports would also like to thank FK Rod Ends, Champion Brands, Golf Cart Services, J&J Auto Racing, Fibreworks Composites, Moose Blocks, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Beer Hill Gang, Gettysburg Rental Center, Gardy’s Enterprises, Baker Door Company, Moose Lodge 720, Pancho’s Racing Products, Pro Shocks, Auto Meter, KSE Racing Products, Fel-Pro, Taylor Ignition Wires, Miller Welders, K&N Filters, Mettec, Bell Helmets, AL Driveline, DMI, Champion Spark Plugs, ISC Racers Tape, Schroth Racing, HMS Motorsports, King Racing Products, Kinsler Fuel Injection, All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads, Ultra Lite Brakes & Components, Security Race Products, Benner’s Butcher Shoppe and Darwin L. Martin Trucking for their continued support.