(Photo by Paul Arch)
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 8, 2023) – Jordon Mallett is pleased where he left off at the 33rd annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank.
The results don’t tell the full story for the ASCS National Tour competitor, who made his third appearance at the famed event hosted by Knoxville Raceway.
“It really comes down to that qualifying pill number and we drew a terrible pill,” he said. “I think we were about the 45th car out to qualify out of 54. It makes it really tough. We didn’t qualify any good and that really put us in a bad spot for the heat race.”
Mallett timed in 47th quickest during his preliminary night last Friday. He then advanced from 10th to ninth place in a heat race and from seventh to third place in the C Main.
“The back row of a 10-car heat race is tough to overcome at a big track where it gets strung out,” he said. “As the night went on the track started slowing down some and we went from seventh to third in the C Main. I was pleased with the car improving. We ran about four laps of the B Main and was up to around 12th. I was really making headway and then we had a fuel line rupture. That resulted in a DNF for the B Main. It was an abrupt halt to our progress.
“From the first competitive lap to when we ruptured that fuel line in the B Main I was feeling really good. I was confident enough that if the cards fell our way in the B Main with a timely caution or two that we could have raced into the top four to get into the A Main. When the race track was really good (early in the night) everybody was fast and we weren’t better than anyone. As the track started to develop a couple of grooves and you could move around that’s when we started to roll well. I’m looking forward to going back to Knoxville.”
Mallett was credited with a 23rd-place finish in the B Main. The team elected to sit out of Saturday’s event finale as Mallett was buried in the E Main based on event points.
“It was a business decision,” he said. “They locked in 20 drivers and the other 85 were going to battle it out for four more spots. We were so far back in the field that you’d risk getting torn up along the way. Plus, putting extra laps on the engine and car didn’t make sense. If we could have finished the B Main on Friday with the progress we were making we’d have been in a lot better position in terms of event points and would have probably run on Saturday, but it just didn’t pan out for us this year.”
Mallett will take the next couple of weekends off before resuming ASCS National Tour competition Aug. 25 at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., and Aug. 26 at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, Okla.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 4 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 47; Heat race: 9 (10); C Main: 3 (7); B Main: 23 (23).
SEASON STATS –
29 races, 0 wins, 8 top fives, 19 top 10s, 22 top 15s, 24 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Aug. 25 at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., and Aug. 26 at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, Okla., with the ASCS National Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://jordonmallett.myracepass.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmmotorsports14
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordonmallettmotorsports
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – KSE Racing Products
KSE Racing Products has been manufacturing premium oval track racing products for more than 35 years. All of its products are proudly built in the USA by a talented team of craftsmen at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility just north of Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit http://www.KSE-Racing.com.
“Dan and Dave at KSE Racing Products have taken care of our steering needs for as long as I can remember,” Mallett said. “It’s been first-class service all the way. They always have top-notch service and a quick turnaround.”
Mallett would like to thank Awakening Events, Awakening Foundation, Water for Christ, Porter Commercial Refrigeration, Red River Rack Co., D&K Farms, Powers HVAC, DHR Suspension, Racing Optics, Triple X Race Co., KSE Racing Products, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Sinco, Inc., Autometer, Callies Racing Products, DynoTech Race Engines, Hero Graphics, Hilborn Fuel Injection, ISC Racers Tape, K&N Engineering, Lone Star Super Gas (Sunoco), HRP Wings, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Smiley’s Racing Products, MetTec Titanium, MotorState Distributing, DMI, Fast 5 Solutions and Superior Bearing and Supply 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.
