6/27/2019
Inside Line Promotions
Schmelzle Captures First Career ASCS National Tour Top 10 During Dirt Cup
(Photo by Wildlight Motorsports Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (June 27, 2019) – Chris Schmelzle earned his first career top-10 finish with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour last Thursday during the opening round of the 48th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup.
Schmelzle kicked off the three-day event at Skagit Speedway by placing third in a heat race before he won a qualifier. That ranked him ninth in event points entering Thursday’s A Main.
“It was a great way to start Dirt Cup,” he said. “The pill draw was in our favor, but we were able to do our job and run near the front of the heat and win the qualifier. We had a really good car in the feature and were able to maintain our position throughout the race to end with a really good finish. We ran between eighth and 10th the whole race. Scott Bogucki and I traded ninth a few times.”
Schmelzle’s 10th-place result was the best of his career with the series, topping a pair of 11th-place runs.
“I was really, really happy and satisfied,” he said. “I’d only run six races this year leading up to that. I wasn’t in the car as much as I need to be to go out and be a competitive car. I think it was a successful night.”
Friday’s preliminary night didn’t fare as well as Schmelzle placed seventh in a heat race, ninth in a qualifier and ninth in a B Main.
“We drew the pole of the heat race and were racing side by side for the lead,” he said. “Coming off turn four we were close together with the car on the outside. We came off turn four sideways and when he straightened up, his left rear and my right front got together. I spun out and had to restart at the back. It was just a racing deal and we were both racing hard for the win. But it really hurt our points for the rest of the night.”
Fortunately, Schmelzle ranked 17th in overall event points and with one car ahead of him dropping out of Saturday’s finale it locked Schmelzle into the $15,000-to-win main event.
“That was one of our goals was to lock into the show,” he said. “We got fortunate how things shook out Friday for the way the points worked out that we only dropped to 17th after having a bad night. Unfortunately, Garen Linder had to scratch so that moved us in. I’d have much rather him not have that bad luck and for us to have to run through the B Main.
“We tightened the car up too much for the start of the race. It looked to me the track would go slick to the fence and it really didn’t. I was just way too tight the first 20 laps back in traffic. Then the car came around and was really fast, but I was in a position where I was a lap down and there was a good race up front so I didn’t want to be in anyone’s way.”
Schmelzle was credited with an 18th-place finish.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 20 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 3 (2); Qualifier: 1 (1); Feature: 10 (9).
June 21 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 7 (1); Qualifier: 9 (9); B Main: 9 (12).
June 22 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Feature: 18 (16).
SEASON STATS –
9 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 3 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 6 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisschmelzle?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris_57c/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – CS Fabworks
CS Fabworks, which is based in Colville, Wash., offers race car and hot rod fabrication. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/CS-fabworks-1665446173673983/.
“We specialize in custom race car fabrication and hot rod fabrication,” Schmelzle said. “We’re not an off-the-shelf parts company. We deal mostly in custom work.”
Schmelzle would also like to thank Walt and Fran Petersen, Carey’s Auto Body, Rodgers Racing Engines, Rocket Designs and Naake Suspension 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
