Rob Bunker hopes Friday the 13th will bring good luck, as he starts his fifth of seven ARCA RE/MAX Series races this season. The Bridgewater, N.J., driver will be behind the wheel of the No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger prepared by Cunningham Motorsports. The 150-mile race is scheduled for Friday evening on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway oval track in Sparta, Ky.
With 54 entries, the field will be crowded, but Bunker has a headstart after testing at the track two weeks ago. Although he was running on pure adrenaline at the time, he acknowledged the value of the test.
“I didn’t even get to fly in – there was too much bad weather. I had to drive all night to get there and I had a pretty bad test, ” he recalled. “But we did 100 miles so we definitely got some good laps in. I know what the track looks like, but we need to establish some baselines this weekend. If we can hit our marks, we should have no problem getting up to speed quickly and then focus on what it takes to win. “
Bunker also noted a change in strategy. As a series rookie, he has been keen to learn the nuances of stock-car racing. Now he’s ready to take it up a notch.
“We feel that maybe we’ve been focusing a little too much on taking our time and learning the basics of ARCA, when we need to be focused on racing and winning, ” he said. “We’re going to push harder than we have and try to raise the confidence level of everybody on the team. We’ve had a little bit of a dry season, but we’re going to do our best to really get a good performance in this weekend. I think it will help us get that extra momentum going for the last two races of the season. ”
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