Bringing “Big Mo” to Memphis … Max McLaughlin is bringing “Big Mo” to Memphis this weekend for his first start at Memphis International Raceway (MIR). “Mad Max” recently tallied his first career top-five finishes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) in his last outing at South Boston Speedway and is looking for more on Saturday evening at MIR. McLaughlin’s drive to a pair of third-place finishes at “SoBo” in early May not only marked his career-best NKNPSE finishes, but he also led for the first time in his career, for a total of 23 laps in the second half of the double header. After four of 13 races, McLaughlin is now tied for sixth in the championship standings, just 21 markers out of the lead.
Stay in the Seat … Four weeks might be a long layoff for some drivers, but not for McLaughlin. The 19-year old hot shoe stayed in the seat and returned to familiar territory in the Super DirtCar Series Big Block Modifieds on Monday night at Weedsport Speedway. As a former two-time Most Popular Driver on the tour, “Mad Max” delivered a solid outing with a fourth-place finish in the 100-lap contest at the 3/8-mile dirt track in Upstate New York. Saturday night he’ll return to his “day job” in search for his first-career victory in the No. 1 Mohawk Northeast Toyota Camry.
Chassis Selection … For the fourth time this season, “Mad Max” will pilot chassis No. 002 at MIR. McLaughlin recently drove this Camry to the pair of podium finishes at South Boston on May 4th-5th. This chassis also saw action in the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway where he finished 11th.
Tune In … FansChoice.TV will have live coverage of the Memphis 150, starting just before the green flag at 7 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Network will also air tape delayed coverage on Wednesday, June 5th at 6 p.m. ET.
Max McLaughlin Quote:
On importance of keeping momentum at Memphis:“We weren’t surprised at all with how we ran at South Boston, and we expect the same this week at Memphis. We all knew at the start of the year this team was capable of running up front, and I think we’re starting to get a good direction of what we need. It felt good to lead some laps in the second race (at South Boston Speedway) and we’re starting to get ourselves headed in the right direction in the point standings too. Memphis is quite a bit different from any place we’ve run so far this year, but I’m confident (crew chief) Robert (Huffman) and our Mohawk Northeast guys will have a good package for us to race on Saturday night and hopefully be towards the front and race for a win.”
HRE PR
