PETERSEN MEDIA
Kalib Henry and the McColloch Motorsports team flexed their muscles at the Pacific Sprints Fall Nationals in Chico, CA over the weekend. Finishing third amongst the 66 entrants on Friday night, Henry was even better on Saturday as he picked up the feature event win against the robust 69 cars that were in action.
“This McColloch Motorsports team has worked really hard all year to get this car this strong, and its pretty cool everything came together at one of the biggest races of the year,” Henry said. “Nick, Kerry, my dad, and I, have all really put our heads together and the last few races we have been really good. Really excited to pick up this win in honor of both the Allard and Sherman families.”
Friday night got off to a strong start for Henry as he was the fastest qualifier in both his flight and overall, aboard the McColloch’s RV Repair/ Davis Truck Painting/Driven Homes, Inc. backed No. 17 entry.
Using the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series format over the weekend, Henry would line up on the pole of his heat race. On a locked down Silver Dollar Speedway racing surface, Henry would lead from start to finish and lock himself in to the always important Dash.
Pulling the seven pill, Henry would pick up a couple of positions which improved his feature event starting position as the fourth place finish put him in the second row for the 30-lap preliminary night feature event.
When the race came to life, Henry would slip back to fifth but would slowly work his way forward as the race got into an extended green flag run. As the leaders got into traffic late in the race, Henry would work into the third position as he set his sights on Kyle Hirst and Tanner Carrick who ran in front of him.
Looking to make it a three car battle for the lead, a caution on lap 25 would take the leaders out of traffic and put them into single file formation.
As the lead duo of Carrick and Hirst broke away in the final dash to the checkered, Henry would hang to the final spot on the podium.
Saturday night’s finale saw Henry get off to another strong start as he would time in third fastest in his qualifying flight and secure another front row starting position in his heat race.
Having a wing valve blow apart as he lined up for the first heat, Henry would have to deal with a cockpit and helmet full of power steering fluid. Getting a good initial start, the yellow would fly and negate his start. The second start would see Henry guess when to go as his vision was a bit hindered and it would be too early as he was called for a jump and penalized a row.
Ultimately finishing third in the heat race, Henry would lock into the 40-lap finale where he would take the green flag from the ninth starting position.
In a while 40-lap feature event, Henry would mind his own business and avoid some of the on-track issues as he slowly worked his way forward.
Using restarts to his advantage, Henry would soon find himself in the second position as he closed in on the race lead.
A late restart would see Henry use it to his advantage once again as he was able to get out front and never look back. Henry would pull away from the field and give the McColloch Motorsports team their first win of the season, and give himself and the team their first Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals win.
“I was in second during a late red with 16 laps left in the race and told my guys the left rear maybe had 15-laps left if we were lucky,” Henry said. “My dad told me it was a good thing we only had 16 laps left and to push it. We were good, it worked out, and it is a really cool race to win.”
McColloch Motorsports would like to thank McColloch’s RV Repair, Davis Truck Painting, Driven Homes, Inc., ART Speed Equipment, RE Technologies, Hansen Machine, ADCO Driveline, and Gary Morgan Graphics for their continued support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts: 13, Wins: 1, Top-5’s: 6, Top-10’s- 8
ON TAP: McColloch Motorsports and Henry will be back in action on Friday night at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, CA.