Story By: JUSTIN SNYDER – A2DPR / SCOTT HESS RACING – YORK HAVEN, PA – Tony Jackson and Scott Hess Racing continued to make strides in the 410 Sprint Car ranks as the Newville, PA native brought home a career-best 16th-place finish on Sunday at BAPS Motor Speedway.
Jackson and Hess initially planned to compete in three consecutive nights of racing in the 410 Sprint Car ranks, but rain again reared its ugly head and canceled planned action at Williams Grove on Friday and Lincoln Speedway on Saturday.
“We briefly considered running Port Royal on Saturday, but it just didn’t look like it would be a great time weather-wise and with the wind,” said Jackson. “In terms of BAPS, they watered the track and it was pretty top dominant. I was probably running a half lane lower than the guys in front of us and that’s a prime example of the learning curve and just where I need to grow.”
A total of 43 410 Sprint Cars attended BAPS on Sunday and Jackson kicked off the night by qualifying second quickest in his group during time trials. He then finished where he started – third – to lock himself into the A-main with the 12th starting position.
“We knew we had to be fast out the gate and we got a pretty good start to the heat race and was running second,” he said. “Ultimately, we slipped back to third and were able to get in the show which is obviously the goal each week.”
With a plan to continue to learn and make laps in mind, Jackson stayed steady inside of the top 15 for most of the 25-lap event. He narrowly missed out on his first career top-15 finish in the division after finishing 16th. However, with the high number of cars on hand, the team was happy to get in the show and bring the car home in one piece.
“Outside of a sanctioned event, I can’t really think of too many instances this early in the year to have 43 cars at the track,” said Jackson. “I didn’t expect that and I knew we had an uphill climb just to get in the show as a result. So ultimately to get in the show and run 16th is a pretty cool deal for us as a team and it’s something we can be proud of.”
Jackson will return to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA on Friday to compete in 410 Sprint Car action before making his third start of the season at the Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA on Saturday.
“Mother Nature doesn’t look like it will do us any favors this weekend, but I’m excited to get back to the track and start contending for top 15 finishes and not just making shows,” said Jackson. “Lincoln is a track that I’ve kind of struggled at, but ultimately I think we’re learning there and hopefully we get in two A-main starts this weekend and some positive results.”
Friday, April 19th, at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Saturday, April 20th, at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.