Trey Starks endured an unfortunate ending to the Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup on Saturday at Skagit Speedway.
Starks had put himself in contention to battle for the $62,000 top prize after strong outings during preliminary competition at the high-banked oval.
He set quick time during qualifying out of the 40-plus drivers on Thursday before advancing from eighth to fifth place in a heat race. Starks then maneuvered from 16 th to 12 th in the A Main.
“It started out great with quick time and going eighth to fifth in the heat,” he said. “That gave us enough points to be the high-point driver. The feature went non-stop and we didn’t quite capitalize on opportunities enough and move forward as much as we needed to make an awesome points night. We needed a couple more spots. Toward the end of the race we had a shot at a couple more, but we didn’t capitalize on it. It was definitely a solid night overall.”
Starks timed in third quickest to open Friday’s action. A broken rear end in a heat race relegated him to a DNF, but Starks rallied from 10 th to fifth in the feature.
“In the heat race I made a mistake running behind a car and got into the fence off turn four, which broke the rear end for us,” he said. “We still were decent enough in points to salvage a decent night. We ran up to fifth in the feature. We were running fourth there at the end and let Zeb (Wise) slip by us. Again, it was a solid points night for us. That put us sixth overall. That’s the first time at Dirt Cup – at least in the 410 – I’ve locked into the top six, which is a big deal to lock into the pole shuffle.”
Starks was tied for fifth place in overall event points, earning a spot into the pole shuffle on Saturday. He won three rounds to garner the third starting spot in the main event.
“I felt really good in the pole shuffle,” he said. “I think those are exciting and I’m glad we got to move forward a couple of spots. That helped us out, putting us in the third starting position.
“We got going early and I was running third when I made a mistake in traffic. I chose wrong and that got us into the fence a little bit, which shuffled us back to fifth. That started to cut a tire down. The tire went all the way down so I started slowing on the outside of the track. I’m not sure of what happened. Just as we were stopping outside of turn one we were hit by another car, which ended our night. That was unfortunate for us and the other competitor. That’s just how it goes sometimes.”
Starks was credited with a 24th-place result.
The previous weekend yielded a pair of second-place showings as Starks set quick time before running second in a heat race, the dash and the main event during a 360ci winged sprint car race at Skagit Speedway on June 17. The following night he timed in second quickest, ran fourth in a heat race, ended fifth in the dash and advanced to second during the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series Timber Cup feature at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
“We had a solid weekend there,” he said. “It was a good run in the 360 at Skagit. We’re still looking for just a little bit more in the 360. And then it was a good run in Elma. I think if it went green to the end we’d have had something for the leader. We did a good job saving our tires and running consistent, but you can’t be too down about a podium.”
Starks plans to return to Skagit Speedway this Saturday for a 410ci winged sprint car weekly show. He is the current points leader at the track.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 17 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (4); Dash: 2 (4); Feature: 2 (2).
June 18 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 4 (4); Dash: 5 (3); Feature: 2 (5).
June 22 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 5 (8); Feature: 12 (16).
June 23 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: DNF (8); Feature: 5 (10).
June 24 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Pole shuffle: 3 (6); Feature: 24 (3).
SEASON STATS –
14 races, 3 wins, 9 top fives, 10 top 10s, 13 top 15s, 13 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash.
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