“Practice was great, qualifying was good but the race, the Greased Lightning 200 presented by Blacks Tire and Auto Service, was not so good, ” said young Tom Hessert.
The MAACO Americas Body Shop Chevy Monte Carlo was “really awesome” according to the Cherry Hill, New Jersey racer.
“David Ifft (car owner) and the crew really had a strong car for me, ” commented the Hooter’s Cup rookie. “The car was awesome in practice. We qualified well (29th out of 42 teams trying for the starting field) and we were running well. ”
Hessert indicated there was some confusion about exactly where he was running but his team had him figured at running as high as third at one time in the 200.
“I made a rookie mistake and it was costly, ” said Hessert. “During a pit stop I was penalized for heading out on to the track with the stop sign out. That was a costly learning experience for us. ”
The 21-year-old college student ran 145 or more laps without incident but with about 45 laps left in the race he was slammed in the rear by another competitor and that had them limping around. With 185 laps completed the MAACO Americas Body Shop team decided to call it a night and took the car to the hauler. “We just need to have a change in our luck, ” the youthful racer said. “We just can’t seem to get a break. We really had a great car and my mistake and an overzealous competitor cost us a good finish. ”
Hessert is now 28th in the USAR Hooter’s Cup Southern Division standings with 385 points. Next on the Southern Division schedule for Hessert in the Hooter’s Cup is a July 21st event at Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, North Carolina.
Tom Hessert will be in action on Friday, June 29th when the Lucas Oil United States Auto Club National Sprint Car Series is featured at Richmond, VA International Speedway. The race, run on the ¾-mile high-banked asphalt oval, will be 60 laps. Hessert will be in the family owned MAACO Americas Body Shop sprinter.
There will also be practice and qualifying for the SunTrust Indy Challenge Presented by XM IndyCar Series race as part of NBC12 Day.
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