Jax Hughes Puts Down His Best Qualifying Run of the Season

The CNS Bike Night 911 Ride was a good night for Jax Hughes and Veracity Racing as the 2016 season heads into turn 4. The weather was great and a good crowd of race fans filled the stands. The 911 ride pulled in right after qualifying and it was a great tribute.

A big thanks to Kenton Gross and Joe Mares, Jr. at KLG Motorsports for some productive nights in the shop getting the 51 Super Stock straightened out from the damages inflicted at the last race. As we headed into this week’s race, our budget has definitely seen all it’s got for the season, but we were able to scrape enough money together for one more set of tires.

Practice was good, and the car was fast. Kyle Patee was there to help out in the pits. Jax wanted to focus on a good qualifying run, as the last few races were proof that it’s easier to start at the front and stay there than battle up through the field. The third practice session was set aside for scuffing in the new tires, and it gave us the opportunity to get Kyle back into a car and on the track following his season-ending crash in his Late Model on July 23rd, even if just for a scuff session.

Qualifying was indeed good – Jax put down his best time all season and qualified 6th in a field of 25. The Fast Dash had the 51 on the pole, and Jax got some good laps in running with Blue Gator “teammate” Mike Cox and points leader Curtis Heldenbrand. He would finish 8th.

The main events at Colorado National Speedway are lined up by finish position of the dashes, and a whole lot of luck in a “pill draw” for the top positions. This week’s draw almost looked like the points standings with the fastest cars of Greenly and Vanderwal up front and the rest falling into their slot. While there was a lot of action around the track during the race, the field pretty much finished where they started, and Jax wound up in 10th. Congrats to Levi Greenly in the number 75 Nova on his 3rd win of the season. Levi was followed by the number 9 Nova of Curtis Heldenbrand, Nova 22 Brian Yackey, the 43 Monte Carlo of Kody Vanderwal, and Chris Cox in the number 2 Pontiac.

The car, tires, and driver are all in great shape and will be ready for action on September 17 for the Gillett Vet Championship Night, the last points race of the season for the Super Stocks, The Modified Coupes, the Trains, and CNS’s Premier Class of Super Late Models in a special event. The Super Stock Division is going to be dramatic with the top 4 positions separated by just 11 points. Curtis Heldenbrand (340) has just a six-point lead over rookie Kody Vanderwal (334), with Mike Cox (332) just two points back from there. The other top rookie is Brian Yackey (329). Jax Hughes finds himself solidly in 8th place, 15 points back from Darrell Smith, and 32 points ahead of Glen Poston.