By Gary Thomas
Cottage Grove, Oregon…Justyn Cox and Bates-Hamilton Racing put forth a strong showing during the Road to Cup, highlighting it all with a victory at Cottage Grove Speedway this past Friday with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series.
“It’s been a fun week up here so far on our trip North,” Cox stated. “Anytime you can run five straight nights fairly stress free makes it a big win. Setting a track record, winning some heats and a main event made it a really good week for us.”
Cox began the Fastest 5 Days in Motorsports on June 12th by setting a new track record at Southern Oregon Speedway, before running third in his heat race. He then captured victory in the Beacon Wealth Strategies Dash to earn the pole of the feature.
Early on he stalked leader Tanner Holmes, until a red flag came out for an incident involving Angelique Bell, which brought an end to the race. He was officially scored in second, claiming his best result of the NARC campaign up until that point.
Bell was taken to the hospital for burns suffered and is currently on her road to recovery. The entire BHR team sends its best thoughts and wishes to Angelique and the Bell family for a full and speedy recovery.
Traveling North to Douglas County Dirt Track in Roseburg on Thursday June 13th, Cox put together another consistent outing by qualifying eighth, finishing third in his heat race and sixth in the main event.
This all set the stage for the big night at Cottage Grove Speedway on Friday June 14th. The 30-year-old driver timed-in fifth overall and captured a win in his heat race aboard the Lippert Construction/ Dan Ewart Sales/ ADS No. 42x mount.
A third-place effort in the Dash then placed him on the inside of row two for the 30-lap NARC 410 feature. Cox quickly jumped into second and with lapped traffic coming into play he closed on leader Cole Macedo.
Stalking the leaders’ every move, the pair marched through lapped traffic, with the crowd on hand showing their appreciation. The thrilling feature came right down to the wire and on lap 25, Cox blasted to the inside, grabbing the lead that he would never relinquish.
The Clarksburg driver hung strong over the final circuits and crossed under the Ed Entz checkered flag for victory at the helm of the Diamond Plastics/ LITHIA FORD/CHRYSLER/DODGE/JEEP – ROSEBURG mount.
Following the big win, Cox capped the solid Fastest 5 Days in Motorsports with a pair of sixth place finishes at Willamette Speedway on Saturday and Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma on Sunday.
“Cottage Grove was the highlight of the week for us, and it was awesome to knock off another NARC win,” commented Cox. “I’ve always enjoyed Cottage Grove and it’s a track I have a lot of time on. Josh had the car perfect, and I was able to drive with ease. We were only a few points out of the Speedweek title and if Medford had counted, we were only three points away from winning it.”
Cox and Bates-Hamilton Racing will now get set to tackle the 52nd annual Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup. The three-night show at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Washington takes place this Thursday through Saturday and dishes out a cool $62,000 to the winner of the finale.
“I’m excited to head for Dirt Cup at Skagit,” Cox continued. “I think we’ve been working on a really good package that I’ve grown comfortable with. I believe we can continue this good momentum and have an awesome week at the Dirt Cup.”
Last season saw Cox drive forward in the final night’s A-main to earn the Williams Roofing Hard Charger Award. Bates-Hamilton Racing was also victorious during the opening prelim of the event in 2022.
All three nights of the Super Dirt Cup can be seen live via FloRacing.
𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔-𝑯𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 would like to thank Lippert Construction, Dan Ewart Sales, VinylTech PVC Pipe, Mozingo Construction, Clow Valve, Teichert Construction, Advanced Drainage Systems, Custom Pipe and Fabrication, B Scadden Design, Specified Pipe, North Bay Waterworks, SIP, Tigre, Star Pipe Products, McWane Ductile, Kaeding Performance, Kistler Engines, Maxim Racing, Sellers Race Wings, ART Enterprises, Rod Tiner Racing, Tiner-Hirst Enterprise, Vanlare Steering Repair, Arbo-Tec, Performance Powder Coating, Warehouse Paint, Justice Brothers, K1 Race Gear, Arai Helmets and Bullet Impressions for their support this season.
𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬-𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 Fastest 5 Days Quick Recap-
Wednesday June 12: Qualified (Fast Time), Heat Race (3rd), Dash (1st), A-main (2nd)
Thursday June 13: Qualified (8th), Heat Race (3rd), A-main (6th)
Friday June 14: Qualified (5th), Heat Race (1st), Dash (3rd), A-main (1st)
Saturday June 15: Qualified (10th), Heat Race (3rd), A-main (6th)
Sunday June 16: Qualified (4th), Heat Race (1st), Dash (3rd), A-main (6th)
𝐔𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬-
Thursday June 20: Skagit Speedway – Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup
Friday June 21: Skagit Speedway – Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup
Saturday June 22: Skagit Speedway – Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup
𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Specified Pipe
Specified Pipe are dedicated manufacturers’ representatives for Diamond Plastics and have a single purpose: to improve the understanding and use of PVC pipe.
They are singularly focused on the use of segmented, gasketed PVC pipe for buried water and wastewater applications, such as: Potable water transmission, Potable water distribution, Gravity collection & conveyance of sanitary & storm sewer, force mains and more.
To learn more about Specified Pipe simply visit https://www.specifiedpipe.com/
𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-
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𝗚𝗧 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀-
GT Promotions is a media company focusing on public relations and social media management for motorsports venues, series, race teams and more. Since 2006 we have worked with numerous clients to boost exposure through our various channels. To inquire about becoming a part of the GT Promotions team simply email gary7n@sbcglobal.net & to keep up with our work follow https://twitter.com/garythomasGT