The season has now reached July. Your results are similar to the past few years. What is your assessment of the first part of the season?
“I’d say it’s been decent, but with a lot of room for improvement. We’ve probably had more bad finishes this year than we’ve had in the last four or five. We won some races in ways that were pretty dominant, but we’ve also come up short more than we’d like to. The key for us is to keep after it.
“July has been good to us in the past and we’re hoping to keep up that pace this year. I know the Armor All guys (Rick Warner, Shane Bowers and Eric Prutzman) are ready to put a run together and really build some momentum heading to the bigger races that are coming up.”
Huset’s Speedway was a place where you learned a lot about racing before you went out on the road with the Outlaws. What’s it like going to race there now?
“It’s always fun to race at some of the places I used to compete at when I was just getting started. When we won there back in 2007, it really felt good to get an Outlaw win there. There were people coming up afterward saying they were there when I couldn’t keep the car off the wall and they were happy to see how far we’ve been able to go.
“Huset’s is a unique place. I learned a lot racing there on Sunday nights. When you are just trying to figure things out and guys like Danny Lasoski and Terry McCarl pretty much owned the place, it was tough. It was a place where you really had to learn how to drive, whether it was being able to qualify or dealing with traffic. Traffic is always a factor there, so you learn how to read cars in front of you and know where they were going to go. We certainly learned that you have to make your car work all over the track, not just on the bottom or top.
“We came up one spot short twice there last year. Hopefully, we can be in a position to win the race on Friday.”
The Eagle Nationals annually kicks off July and some of the other longstanding Outlaw shows. You’ve won races at Eagle in the past, but you’re still trying to win your first Eagle Nationals. How would a win on Saturday help you and your team head into some of the season’s biggest races?
“Any win is going to help you, but there is something about a first win. Whether it’s at a track or a particular race. For some reason, we just haven’t been as good at Eagle in the summer as we have been in the fall. We won (four) races when they had us come through there in September, and we were always pretty good at those shows.
“The Eagle Nationals has always been a part of the Outlaws’ bigger summer races, and we’ve run well in the race, but just not good enough. The track is really a great place for racing. They normally will have a couple of lines to race on and we’re usually dealing with traffic for most of the race. I hope we have the chance to spend a lot of time racing traffic, because our Armor All car really works well when we have to switch lines and move around.
“Things are definitely picking up as far as the number of races we have, so getting that first Eagle Nationals win would be a great way to start July. This team expects to win and feeds off winning. That’s our goal and, hopefully, when the race comes down to the end on Saturday night, we’ll be one of the guys vying for the victory.”
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