IRWINDALE, California -- In his first ever race on a half mile oval, Albert Flores Jr of La Quinta turned heads Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway. The just-turned-16 year old driver “won” practice in his #66 King Taco Super Truck, topping one practice session and lapping 2nd quickest in the other. Later he went out and qualified 4th fastest.
A lucky roll of the dice and the invert gave him a pole position starting spot, but then a rookie mistake saw the officials take that spot away when the driver missed the roll call for the driver’s meeting. The penalty was a start at the back of the grid in the 40 lap feature.
Team RA Racing team members didn’t let this get their spirits down. They’ve been watching Albert race for eight years in karts, Bandoleros and Legends cars, and they’ve seen his talent behind the wheel.
After the green dropped Saturday night, Albert passed truck after truck without putting a scratch on his truck, moving steadily from last to 6th at the checkers and winning the race’s Hard Charger award.
Afterward, Albert was all smiles. “The truck was on rails – really hooked up. I owe this one to my crew chief and spotter Tim McMillin. His set-up let me run anywhere I needed to and made my job pretty easy”. “I’ve also got to thank our team sponsors, A Flores Excavating & Grading and RA Wasserman Construction, for their generous support and giving me what I need to run fast”.
Team RA Racing can really look forward to starting the next race in their qualifying position since they are left to wonder what might have been.
