Puyallup, Wash. — Sept. 27, 2012 — Trey Starks really doesn’t want to see the 2012 season end, especially with the string of podium finishes he has going right now. Following a win and a third-place finish at Grays Harbor Raceway a couple of weeks ago, the 16-year-old finished on the podium both nights last weekend with the ASCS Northwest Region at the Yakima Dirt Track in his home state of Washington, during that group’s Championship Weekend.
Starks has finished on the podium in four straight races, and in five of his last six starts overall. On the season, the native of Puyallup, Wash., has recorded 10 Top-three finishes in a variety of 360- and 410-sprint car races.
Last weekend began for Starks at the Yakima Dirt Track in Yakima, Wash., on Friday, Sept. 21, with a runner-up finish in the 30-lap main event for the ASCS Northwest Region. He won the second eight-lap heat race over Mitch Olson and eventual A-Feature winner Jayme Barnes to kick-off his night. With the event being run under ASCS rules, each driver drew for their starting spots in the heat races, when they signed in at the beginning of the night, with passing points used to line up the main event.
“It was a pretty good night,” said Starks. “We had luck on our side with a couple of the cars ahead of us dropping out late in the race. There wasn’t a whole lot of passing, but we did our job and got a few spots on the starts. There was a green-white-checker restart and I thought I might have something for him (Barnes), because I think we were faster, but it was a really slow restart and we didn’t have enough laps to catch back up after that. All in all we can’t complain with a second.”
In the ASCS Northwest Region season finale on Saturday, Sept. 22, Starks would finish third behind winner Roger Crockett and runner-up Olson in the A-Feature. He opened the night in the second heat race, where he came home fourth.
“The track got very, very slick on Saturday night and was pretty challenging,” explained Starks. “I think we made the most of what we had and made good decisions. We were able to pick off some spots without giving any up and I think that was the key.”
Starks, who has won twice this season, has recorded 17 Top-10 finishes, with 13 of those being Top-Five performances. He has competed with the World of Outlaws in 2012, as well as the ASCS National Tour, ASCS Northwest Region, the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, and has also raced in a number of unsanctioned races in both a 360- and 410-sprint car across the Pacific Northwest and in California.
“We learned a lot during the time we spent with the World of Outlaws in the Midwest and I really think that has been helping us the last few weeks,” he noted. “We were able to see if what we learned out there would work back home and obviously it has been working. That makes running out there with those guys worthwhile, knowing that you are making improvements to your program and to yourself as a driver.”
Starks will return to action this weekend at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., on Saturday, Sept. 29 for the track’s season championship event. He was victorious at the three-eighths-mile on Sept. 8 and finished third in his most recent start at Grays Harbor on Sept. 15. Starks has finished sixth or better four times this season at the track and turned in a 12th-place performance with the World of Outlaws at the track at the end of August, earning the KSE Hard Charger Award for the third time this season in that contest.
“The season championship night is tough, because they line everyone up by points and we haven’t run there for points,” shared the third-generation driver. “We’ll have to start a little further back, but we came from 10th to win two years ago there and came up five pounds light at the scales. It’s definitely winnable from where we’ll be starting, so I’m pretty excited for this weekend.”
Trey Starks and Starks Racing would like to thank their valued partners: BR Motorsports, FX Signs, King Racing Products, Masco Petroleum, Northwest Powerdercoating & Sandblasting, Starks Timber Processing and T&C Concepts.
Keep Up-to-Date
For the latest news and information on Trey Starks and Starks Racing, visit www.TreystarksRacing.com . Also keep up with Trey on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TreyStarksRacing, and follow Trey on Twitter at: twitter.com/TreyStarks55.
- Admin Account on Sep 28, 2012
- Article Date: 9/28/2012 by Starks Racing PR