6/24/2019
Inside Line Promotions
Price Makes History With First-Ever ASCS National Victory at Dirt Cup
(Photo by Wildlight Motorsports Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (June 24, 2019) – Robbie Price continued to build on momentum as he backed up his previous weekend’s season-best performance with a top-10 run, a podium outing and a huge win during three nights of racing in the 48th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway last weekend.
Night 1 at the famed 3/10th-mile oval began on Thursday with Price drawing the No. 70 pill. However, he rallied from ninth to a third-place finish in the heat race. Price then started sixth in a qualifier and he gained a position to rank fourth in overall points, lining him up on the outside of the second row for the A Main. The team came home with a season-best sixth-place finish.
“We didn’t draw a very good pill number and it started us pretty deep in both the heat race and the qualifier so we had to do some passing,” he said. “We ran fifth most of the feature and I made a driver error in traffic that cost a position. It was a little frustrating, but overall a solid showing.”
Friday produced similar results as Price ran second in his heat race from seventh, fourth in his qualifier from sixth and he improved his Night 1 performance by three positions with a new season-best result of third. This also placed the team fourth in event points, locking them into finale.
“The track was a little better suited for us on Night 2,” he said. “The draw hurt us again, but we passed a lot of cars and the car just felt really good. I knew we didn’t have the car to win, but to finish on the podium and lock ourselves in for Night 3 was a win in itself.”
The finale ended with a dream come true finish as Price bested Blake Hahn by .364 seconds for his first career Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour victory. He became the 147th different winner in the series history. With the victory he also became the first Canadian born driver to win the Skagit Speedway crown jewel and the youngest winner ever of the event at 21-years-old.
Price started fourth in the feature and quickly raced past Jason Solwold for third before taking second on Lap 13. Price briefly took the lead from Matt Covington on Lap 22 and held the top spot for four laps before turning it back over to Covington on Lap 27. Three laps later, Covington had mechanical woes, handing the lead over to Price.
“Going down the front stretch there is a lap counter at Skagit so I was watching that patiently and counting down the laps to when we needed to make our move,” Price said. “Hahn got crossed up in traffic and we were able to capitalize. Then I took the lead briefly before Covington was able to get back by me.”
The finish was nail biting as Price overcame a late-race caution and restart followed by a vigorous attempt on the last lap by Hahn to take home the $15,000 paycheck.
“Once Covington lost an engine I felt it was our race to lose and I just had to hit my marks,” Price said. “I didn’t want to see that last restart, but I was confident in my abilities. To win my first race in one of the biggest 360 races of the year, it’s a feeling I can’t explain and I’m ecstatic.”
Price will be looking to follow up on the career breakthrough as the ASCS National Tour heads to Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., this Friday and Saturday for the Fred Brownfield Classic.
“I raced locally there for about three years so I’m pretty familiar with the track,” he said. “Hopefully we can build on this momentum and come home with a couple solid top fives.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 20 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 3 (9); Qualifier: 5 (6); Feature: 6 (4).
June 21 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 2 (7); Qualifier: 4 (6); Feature: 3 (3).
June 22 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Feature: 1 (4).
SEASON STATS –
27 races, 1 win, 3 top fives, 7 top 10s, 12 top 15s, 18 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., for the Fred Brownfield Classic with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RPrice21
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rpracing21/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Shark Racing Engines
Located in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., Shark Racing Engines has been building high-performance racing engines for more than two decades. For more information, visit http://www.SharkRacingEngines.com.
“Skagit is right in Shark Racing Engines backyard so to get that win for them was really special,” Price said. “We couldn’t do this without them and they really provide us great engines.”
Price would like to thank Millstone Heating & Sheet Metal, CARSTAR Leduc, Triple X Race Components, Skagit Speedway, Highline Performance and Champion Brands for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
