(Photo by Wildlight Motorsports Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – OSKALOOSA, Iowa (Aug. 6, 2019) – Robbie Price’s first attempt at qualifying for the 29th annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank fell short of the main event on Saturday when it ended with a 17th-place finish in the C Main.
Although the finish was not what the young Cobble Hill, British Columbia native had hoped for, it marked a vast improvement from the opening night of the event at Knoxville Raceway and was a valiant effort to make the show after Price was forced to run the alphabet soup starting in the E Main.
Price began his preliminary night Friday with a rough start as he timed in with a best lap of 17.498 seconds, putting him 46th quickest out of 55 cars and placing him deep in his heat race in the 10th starting position.
“We really need to work on our qualifying program a bit,” he said. “Those two laps can make or break you and it really put us in a bind from the get-go.”
Needing to advance to the top four in the finishing order to qualify for the A Main, Price struggled to make up much ground and he settled for an eighth-place finish. That relegated him to the back of the B Main and he gained a trio of positions to place 16th.
While it was short of his goal of advancing to the A Main, Price felt more comfortable in the car after the B Main and he was excited to see if the hard work would pay off Saturday night.
“We changed a few things with the car after heat race action and the guys just really made me feel comfortable behind the wheel,” he said. “I knew no matter what we were going to have our work cut out for us so I was just happy to be moving forward.”
The disappointing start left Price in a deep hole heading into Saturday night. Event points placed him 83rd out of 97 cars. That lined him up on the outside of the front row in the E Main. Price quickly got out front and cruised forward to take the win, which transferred him into the D Main.
Price passed a dozen cars in 10 laps of racing to finish seventh, which earned the final transfer into the C Main. He started last and gained seven positions to end 17th.
“The car was extremely fast and it made me feel really good knowing we advanced from that far back,” he said. “We didn’t qualify for the feature event, but I’d say the weekend was a success. We got faster and showed we can be competitive among a lot of really good cars. I just kept kicking myself that we were not better to start off Friday.”
Price put his 410 engine in on Sunday to compete in the 8th annual Bell Helmets Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank before racing on Monday at Southern Iowa Speedway as part of the 24th annual Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting.
Qualifying got him behind both nights and resulted with finishes in the B Main.
Next up on the schedule will be a return to Southern Iowa Speedway on Tuesday for the Sage Fruit Ultimate Challenge with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour. He will then make his first-ever attempt at the 59th annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores, which is Wednesday through Saturday at Knoxville Raceway.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 2 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 46; Heat race: 8 (10); B Main: 16 (19).
Aug. 3 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – E Main: 1 (2); D Main: 7 (19); C Main: 17 (24).
Aug. 4 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 36; Heat race: 11 (12); B Main: 9 (11).
Aug. 5 – Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa – Qualifying: 26; Heat race: 7 (7); B Main: 6 (7).
SEASON STATS –
38 races, 1 win, 3 top fives, 11 top 10s, 19 top 15s, 25 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Tuesday at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour and Wednesday through Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, for the 59th annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RPrice21
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rpracing21/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Wildlight Motorsports Photography
Wildlight Motorsports Photography takes images throughout events in Western Canada and on the West Coast. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/Wildlight-Motorsport-Photography-260251824183578/.
“Don is a really good guy who takes great photos,” Price said. “I really appreciate his help throughout the last few years. He’s turned into a good friend.”
Price would like to thank Millstone Heating & Sheet Metal, Shark Racing Engines, 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.