Jason Hogan Event Preview:
ASA SAT Watermelon Capital Speedway
After getting washed out after qualifying back on July 11th, the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour returns to the smooth and slick 3/8th mile track referred to as Watermelon Capital Speedway on Saturday August 29th. The event marks the second of two trips to the track built upon fertile watermelon growing grounds. For Jason Hogan, the guy that sits atop the ASA SAT standings, it is a chance to get one last tune up before the start of ASA SAT version of the chase which will begin after the Melon 100. The Georgia native struggled a bit in the first race of the year at “The Melon” and is looking to bounce back this weekend with a different car and motor combination set to take the green flag.
QUOTES
-You struggled at “the melon” earlier in the year with a 14th place finish after winning there just a season ago, what do you need to do in order to bounce back?
“We had some bad luck earlier in the year which is the main reason why we only finished 14th. We have had some consistent top five finishes lately at all kinds of different tracks so as a team we are pretty excited about heading back to a track we know we can get the job done at.”
-What’s the toughest part about racing at Watermelon Capital Speedway?
“I would say the toughest thing about racing The Melon would be the fact there are no back straightaway walls and you really use all of the track coming off of two so its pretty easy to get your right side tires off track which can easily make you lose a couple of positions. Track position is also pretty important because it can be tough coming through the pack if you happen to have a bad qualifying run.”
-This is the final race before the championship stretch which begins next race out at your home track of Lanier, how do you approach the race knowing you’re locked in the championship hunt?
“This is the first time since I’ve been racing that I’ve raced in any type of chase or playoff format so it is a little different than what I’m used to. In a way it makes this race not as important when it comes to winning a championship which is what we are trying to do, but also we need a win because not only do we get bonus points toward the championship but I’m getting tired of getting good finishes and not a win!”
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Elliott Finishes Second at Lanier
Chase Elliott moved up to a Late Model stockcar this spring and looked to gain experience and seat time in various LM divisions this summer. Fast forward almost five months and 13-year-old Elliott finds himself with his first win in the competitive ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour and leading the Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS) championship standings after eight of 13 events. Saturday’s second-place finish, Elliott’s fifth top-three in the Pro Late Model series – including two wins, moved Elliott back into the lead with a series average finish of 3.75 and furthered the wave of momentum Elliott has been riding.
Elliott may have inherited his smooth driving technique from his father, NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, but the second-generation driver is making a name for himself on the track. After starting fifth in a stout 20-car field, Elliott survived five caution periods and worked his way through the field in front of his hometown fans.
“Another night where we could have used 10 more laps,” Elliott said. “The Aaron’s Dream Machine started out on the tight side, but we knew it would come around. We just wore out our stuff there trying to get through traffic early in the race. Once we got up front in clean air, the car was awesome, there just weren’t enough laps. I am working on my driving style to better put the car in a position to win just a little sooner each week. The car will come around a little quicker and be better at the end if I drive a different race so I am trying to figure that one out. Ricky Turner (crew chief) and the guys gave me an awesome car again this weekend, and I’m really proud of how we have been running. A big thank you to Aaron’s, Ricky and the guys, dad and mom and all of our product sponsors for everyone’s support and for letting me do what I love to do.”
After struggling slightly in the first practice, the team dodged a bullet when they found that the right front brake caliber on the Aaron’s Dream Machine was leaking. After replacing it and hitting the track for the second round, they discovered a problem with the left front caliber. With two fresh front brake calibers, the team hoped they jumped through their last hoop of the night as they prepared for qualifying.
Rolling out mid-pack in the 20-car field, Elliott laid down a fast lap of 14.000 seconds and waited to see how it would stack up against Late Model stars Casey Roderick, TJ Reaid, Paul Kelley and Bubba Pollard. After all was said and done, Elliott sat fifth on the board, a mere 0.057 seconds off the pole lap set by Elliott’s Bill Elliott Racing teammate Roderick. The spread from first to 20th was just over seven-tenths of a second, setting up a great battle for the 100-lap race.
Elliott and the No. 9 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine lined up on the inside of the fifth row for the start of the Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind 100 in front of his hometown fans. As usual, the field scrambled for position at the drop of the green and Elliott set his race pace back in the seventh position pulling into line on lap 2. By lap five, the top-eight cars formed a pack, and by lap 10, Elliott began inching away from Kelley’s No. 23 machine in eighth place.
The field slowed for the first caution on lap 14, and Elliott lined up in seventh for the restart. Once again, Elliott maintained his patience during the green flag shuffle and settled into eighth. Seven quick laps later, the field slowed again for another spin. This time, Elliott battled on the outside with the No. 2 of DJ Vanderlay and moved into sixth place after two green flag laps.
By lap 30, Elliott had the Aaron’s Dream Machine on the back bumper of No. 98 Russell Fleeman in fifth. Known for saving his equipment for the end of the race, Elliott followed the No. 98 as Fleeman, Elliott and Vanderlay worked their way through lap traffic.
On lap 48, Elliott took his first look to the inside of Fleeman as his crew chief and fill-in spotter Ricky Turner encouraged his young driver to “keep digging”. Elliott did just that and cleared Fleeman on lap 57 to move back into the top-five with his sights set on the front of the field. Following the third caution on lap 63, Elliott restarted in fifth and put some pressure on No. 18 Pollard for fourth before the next caution on lap 70.
Turner encouraged his driver as the race entered the homestretch, “It looks like we’re going to have some cautions here; let’s not be one of them. Be smart and be aggressive, and let’s go get ‘em.”
Tuner was right, as the field slowed for the fifth and final caution just two quick laps later. Elliott was shuffled to sixth in those two laps and lined up on the outside of row three for the final restart. Elliott maintained his line on the outside of Kelley’s No. 23 and held off pressure from behind by Vanderlay in the No. 2. By lap 75, Elliott pulled ahead of Kelley and cleared Pollard to move into fourth with 25 laps left on the board.
The top-four cars ran single-file and pulled away while Pollard and Reaid battled for fifth. On lap 85, Elliott put the pressure on Chris Whorton’s No. 6 and set him up for the pass on lap 89 to move the Aaron’s Dream Machine into the top-three.
In the final 10 laps, Elliott hit his marks around his home track but ran out of laps before he could race Sawyer and Roderick for the top-two spots. Elliott and the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine took the checkers in third, but the team was credited with a second-place finish after the race winner and teammate, Roderick, failed post-race inspection.
The second-place finish marks Elliott’s fifth top-three in eight GAS starts this season and moves him back into the lead in the championship standings as the series heads into its final five events.
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Elliott Caps off Double-Header Weekend with First ASA SAT Win at Anderson
Chase Elliott was on a mission from the time the team unloaded at Anderson (S.C.) Motor Speedway for Saturday’s ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour Anderson 100. After leading practice and qualifying second, Elliott started the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine in eighth and worked his way methodically to the front of the field to claim his first win in the competitive ASA SAT series.
“This has been a long weekend, but this is the perfecting ending, to be here celebrating this win with the team,” Elliott said from Victory Lane at Anderson. “We have all been putting in long hours at the shop getting both cars ready for Pensacola and Anderson, and I just can’t thank these guys enough for working so hard. Pensacola was definitely a learning experience for us, but I think that gave us more drive tonight to come here and run strong. The car tonight was perfect, Ricky (Turner, crew chief) gave me an awesome car and it shows because here we are with our first ASA SAT win…and those aren’t easy to get, this is a tough series. I can’t wait to get to Lanier next weekend and see if we can keep this momentum going. A big thank you to Aaron’s and all of our product sponsors who support us and let us have fun doing what we love to do.”
“From the first laps Chase took on the speedway, there was just a determination in him that I almost had to try and calm him down a bit,” crew chief Ricky Tuner said. “We unloaded good, thankfully, and were good in practice really, from the start. We parked the car with about an hour to go in the final practice. Chase did a good job racing and saving his tires and we were able to achieve our first ASA SAT win of the season. I was really proud of the whole team effort.”
After topping the leader board in practice, Elliott laid down a 15.69-second lap during qualifying, just 0.05 seconds off the lap of fast qualifier TJ Reaid. As luck would have it, Elliott drew the highest number, an eight, in the random draw for starting position, dropping him to the outside of the fourth row for the start of the Anderson 100.
Elliott, who takes the calls from his dad Bill Elliott up in the spotters’ stand, settled into eighth at the drop of the green flag, hitting his marks and focusing on conserving his tires for the end of the 100-lap race. On lap 40, Elliott switched gears and set up Max Gresham in the No. 7-11. After clearing Gresham and moving into seventh on lap 41, Elliott picked up two more positions before the half-way mark to move into the top-five.
On lap 53, Elliott cleared fellow Georgia driver Jason Hogan’s No. 92 and then took over third place from local Late Model veteran No. 32 Randy Porter the following lap. With leader Austin Hill a half a straight-away ahead of them, TJ Reaid and Elliott hooked up and reeled in the No. 24. On lap 84, the two Georgia young guns made their way around Hill to move into first and second.
On lap 86, Elliott moved the Aaron’s Dream Machine around the No. 41 to take over the lead from Reaid. After surviving the first restart on lap 88, Elliott avoided what could have been a tragic ending to a dominating run when he and No. 84 Clay Alexander, who was a lap down, made contact, sending Alexander spinning. As Elliott approached the No. 84, Alexander moved up the track and Elliott, thinking he was moving out of the way of the leaders, started to drive by him on the inside, just as Alexander started moving back down. The contact sent the No. 84 into a half spin while the Aaron’s Dream Machine drove on.
As the laps wound down, Elliott’s strategy to save his tires for the end of the race proved to be the right move, as he was able to keep Reaid in his rearview mirror. Elliott kept the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine out front on the final single-file restart on lap 96 and cruised to his first victory in the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour and his third win in only 16 Pro Late Model starts.
The team, although excited over the big win, was undoubtedly ready for some R-and-R on Sunday. After working long days repairing the damaged car from Montgomery, the Aaron’s Dream Machine team travelled to Pensacola, Florida, Friday morning for Elliott’s first Super Late Model start at the legendary Five Flags Speedway. After missing Thursday’s practice, the team was behind the eight ball but felt confident after an hour and a half of practice Friday.
Elliott qualified the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine in twelfth, only a tenth and a half off the pole set by local racer Augie Grill. In a field of Super Late Model stars, including Grill, Johanna Long and Bubba Pollard, Elliott ran as high as ninth but faded late in the race to finish 18th. The team admitted they missed the set-up and were facing an uphill battle being Elliott’s first Super Late Model start and first start at the tough half-mile Five Flags Speedway, but they took it as a learning experience – and Elliott gained track time with some of the Southeast’s best drivers.
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Jason Hogan Event Preview: ASA SAT Anderson Motor Speedway
After a stretch of three tracks where Jason Hogan has historically ran well at, the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour heads to Anderson Motor Speedway in Anderson, SC. Anderson is a tight 3/8 mile bullring with fourteen degrees of banking; its tricky corners have given the Hogan Motorsports team trouble over the years dating back in the past when Kevin Barret drove for the team. This will mark the first time the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour has visited the track since its inception. The tight fourteen degree banked turns of Anderson Motor Speedway require drivers to get up on the wheel just to stay out of trouble. Being around at the end is crucial at every track, at Anderson sometimes just finishing can be a challenge in itself.
-From above this looks like any other race track on the circuit, except a little shorter. What makes Anderson such a tough race track to get around?
“The tough thing about Anderson is you have wide straight-aways and tight tricky corners which sometimes gets you thinking you can make a pass that you can’t pull off, and before you know it your into somebody. The place is old and wore out so grip can also be hard to come by; overall it can be a tough place to race at. Its one of those tracks that when you’re out on the track alone its fine, but then you put twenty other racecars out there with you, you never know what might happen.”
-Your family has had a lot of history racing at Anderson in the past, tell us about that?
“Back when I was growing up, before I was even old enough to race, my family used to race Friday night at Anderson and then come Saturday they would be at Lanier every weekend. It was just what they did each and every week and they loved it. My dad always said they won a lot of races there over the years so it’s been a place that historically speaking has been good to Hogan Motorsports, just not me.”
-When you come to a place like Anderson that’s not your favorite track but it’s on the tour and you have to race there, how do you prepare mentally when that’s the next race on the schedule?
“Well you’re right, Anderson isn’t my favorite place, I’ve just never had a reason to like the place, but I’m sure if I have won a few races there I’d change my mind some. As far as preparing for this race or any other race you have to think about what kind of race that particular track produces and go from there. At Anderson for example it’s a place where you have to just be aware of your surroundings at all times and really work with your spotter to get you through traffic trouble-free. If we can do that then we should be fine; I would be happy if we can leave there with a top five finish and our car not needing any body panels.”
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Rain Dance Works for Roderick; Scores First Late Model Win at Lanier
Casey Roderick has a lot to celebrate this week, starting with his first career Late Model victory in Saturday’s rain-shortened Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS) event at Lanier National Speedway (Braselton, Ga.). The win, which came on Roderick’s one-year anniversary of joining Bill Elliott Racing, is an early birthday present for the Lawrenceville, Ga., native, who will celebrate his 17th birthday this Saturday.
“Man, that was a long time coming,” Roderick said from a make-shift Victory Lane inside the tech garage at Lanier. “We’ve been close so many times, and it’s awesome to finally be here celebrating a win with the team. I owe a big thanks to Bill Elliott for giving me this opportunity; I think it was one year ago this weekend that I joined the team and what a year it has been. I’m glad we could finally get this win for him, and hopefully now that we’ve got the first win off our back, we’ll be back in Victory Lane soon.”
After starting on the outside pole after the inversion, Roderick jumped out front for the first two laps before relinquishing the lead to fast qualifier Chris Whorton. Roderick tucked the No. 19 Ford in behind Whorton, and along with No. 98 Russell Fleeman, the top three ran nose-to-tail, pacing the field. Roderick held off pressure by veteran Fleeman, and by lap 40, Whorton and Roderick started inching away from Fleeman. Whorton and Roderick continued to pace the field as the laps wound down until the first caution on lap 80.
Roderick lined up on the outside of the front row for the restart and passed Whorton entering turn one to resume the lead. From there, Roderick drove away from Whorton and had the No. 19 out front when the second caution waved on lap 88. With the threat of rain looming all night, Roderick was in the right place at the right time, as the rain poured down over Lanier National Speedway and officials called the race after 88 of 100 laps.
“We got lucky there on that restart, being on the outside of (Chris) Whorton. The outside groove is the place to be on restarts here at Lanier. We had good forward bite all night, and once our tires got warmed up, we were running good. This was our first start with this chassis, and we’re one-for-one so far! Jim Barfield and the guys worked their tails off getting this thing set up right, and I’m so proud I could get them a win here at our home track. I just want to thank my mom and dad, all of our product sponsors, Bill and everyone who has helped me get here. I can’t wait to come back here in two weeks to defend the win and keep fighting for that GAS championship.”
Earlier in the day, Roderick showed that the No. 19 Ford would be a threat in the Pro Late Model race. After picking up over four-tenths of a second from first practice, Roderick posted the fastest practice lap overall with a time of 14.069 seconds. The last car to roll out for qualifying, Roderick gained nearly a second over practice to lay down the third quickest qualifying lap at 14.003 seconds.
The win moves Roderick back atop the leader board in the 2009 GAS championship standings after seven of 13 races. Roderick and the rest of the Georgia Asphalt Series field will be back on the track Saturday, August 15, at Lanier National Speedway.
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Chase Elliott Will Attempt to Make his Super Late Model Debut Five Flags Speedway
13-year-old Chase Elliott will attempt to make his Super Late Model debut this Friday, August 7, in the Blizzard Series Carpenter’s Campers 100 at the legendary Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
The half-mile short track located in Florida’s panhandle area is home to the Snowball Derby – one of the biggest events in Late Model racing – and is notoriously known as one of the toughest tracks in racing with high speeds and two-wide racing. Friday’s event is expected to draw some of the area’s best SLM drivers, including Augie Grill, Bubba Pollard, and Johanna Long.
While the second-generation driver will head to Five Flags as the underdog, attempting to qualify for his first SLM start and his first start at Five Flags, Elliott is up for the challenge in the No. 9 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine.
“I can’t wait to unload Friday and get strapped into my Aaron’s Dream Machine Super Late Model,” Elliott said. “This is a big step for us, and the competition will be incredible so I am really looking forward to meeting and hopefully racing for the first time some of the driver’s that I consider legendary and on a speedway that is no doubt legendary as well”.
Elliott, who made his first Pro Late Model start in March, has 15 LM races under his belt and has established an impressive record, including two wins, six top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. His only two finishes outside of the top-ten were due to DNF’s.
For more information about Five Flags Speedway, the Blizzard Series or the Snowball Derby, please visit www.5FlagsSpeedway.com or call the track at (850) 944-8400.
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