One of the most well traveled racers on the East Coast just may be young Tom Hessert III. The 21-year-old racer will be earning a lot of airline miles this month as he competes in Hooter’s Pro Cup, Lucas Oil United States Auto Club Sprint Car and USAC National Midget Series events.
Hessert’s travels will have him at Toledo, Ohio Speedway on Friday, July 6th for a doubleheader show of USAC Sprints and Midgets. The college student will have his MAACO Americas Body Shop sponsored racers entered in each of the two 30-lap Midget and Sprint events.
On Saturday, July 7th, the MAACO Americas Body Shop team heads to Mansfield, Ohio Speedway for another doubleheader show featuring USAC Sprints and Midgets.
Hessert makes a rare appearance in a Northern Division Hooter’s Pro Cup race at Motor Mile Raceway in Radford, VA on Saturday, July 14 for the Kroger 250 presented by Start Country 94.9 and then heads to a Southern Division Hooter’s Pro Cup race set for Southern National Raceway in Kenly, NC on Saturday, July 21 for the Naturally Fresh 250 presented by Awesome Awnings. The MAACO Americas Body Shop Chevrolet owned by former NASCAR Cup crew chief David Ifft is currently 27th in the Southern Division standings.
It is back to open cockpit auto racing at Junction Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska for two nights of USAC National Championship Midget competition on July 24th and 25th.
Topping off the month will be the prestigious Belleville, Kansas Midget Nationals with a 25-lap main event on July 27th and a 40-lapper attracting the top talents in Midget auto racing competition on July 28th.
“I will really looking to get things turned around during the month of July, ” said Hessert. “We have had some tough luck in the race cars we have been running. However I can see a glimmer of hope with our efforts at Richmond, VA International Raceway this past weekend. ”
Hessert was able to qualify 14th quickest for the Lucas Oil USAC National Sprint Car Series race on the ¾-mile asphalt oval. He was able to run in the top ten for much of the 30-lap feature race and finished ninth against a stellar field of sprint car racing talents. The race was won by Bobby East.
“It was much better than our previous outing at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis when we finished 12th, ” said the talented young racer. “There is room for improvement but I think we are headed in the right direction. ”
The Richmond race had been scheduled as a 60-lap event but was shortened to 30-laps when it was shifted from a Friday night show to Saturday morning because of weather conditions.
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