Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Burlington, WA – Kelsey Carpenter has found his groove at Skagit Speedway. Not a literal groove - though he was able to put his car high, low or through the middle when he wanted to on Saturday night– a figurative groove is what he's found. After winning the track's Sportsman
Sprint titles in 2008 and 2009, and accumulating near 20 race wins over that two year period, Kelsey moved up to the 360 division in 2010 and has been seeking the consistency he had some four years ago ever since. And from opening night forward this year, the consistency has been back for one of the track's most popular drivers. Carpenter, who has only finished outside the top 5 once this season, raced from his 4^th place starting position to the lead and the win on Saturday night and in the process, cemented himself inside the top three of the season's championship chase. For Carpenter, who works full time in the racing industry as an employee of Speedmart Inc., his entire race program has been firing on all cylinders since unloading the car on opening day. 'We barely worked on the car or thought about during the offseason, then on the Thursday before opening night, we pulled it out of the trailer and cleaned the clay off it from last year. Put the engine in the Friday before, and we've just been so good ever since" said Kelsey. On Saturday night, every came together for win #1 on the year as Carpenter mounted a huge comeback over the course of the race just to put himself in a position to win in the final laps. After starting 4^th, Carpenter gradually worked his way up and into the third place running spot, but by the time he got there, positions one and two (Mack Brown and Brock Lemley) were engaged in an epic battle almost a half lap ahead of him. Showing patience and resolve, Carpenter put together solid lap after solid lap, narrowing the advantage to just a few short car lengths as the lead duo entered the heaviest traffic they'd encountered all night. With two laps left, Brown and Lemley both made a move to get by a slower car, colliding with each other and the lapper, giving Carpenter the break he'd need to take the lead. The incident forced Brown and Lemley to the trailers for the rest of the night, and Kelsey would capitalize on the good fortune by taking the victory after and green-white-checkered restart. "I can't thank my guys enough…Bill Bruders gives me everything I need to go out and do this, Ryan, Ed and Travis work their butts off…Shark (Racing Engines) gives me great power and Triple X makes a
badass car!" said the winner post-race. The win vaults Kelsey thickly into the hunt for the 360 title, and with most of the season still ahead, you can count on the potent black and blue 79k to be a threat all the way through September.

Kelsey would like to thank his many sponsors and supporters for help this season, including Bill Bruders & Legend Brands, Airgas, Qualfab, R&R Autoworks, Speedmart, Primac Electric, Human Resources Inc, Prattco Compressors, Keizer Wheels and Les Schwab Tires.

how has the track been there lately?

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

By main time its a little more dusty than in passed years but seems to be a racing surface. I know drivers have a harder time seeing but it is making for some good mains this year. The 360 car count is really good so far too good full fields.