19 year-old dirt racer Kyle Heckman of Nipomo, CA won the 24th annual Budweiser Western Dirt Track Nationals in the Super Street division at the 1/3 mile Bakersfield Speedway on Friday in the #27 Milton Motorsports entry, winning his third high-profile race of the year to go along with his MMI/Dole Enterprises Bottoms Up 100 and Danny Simkins Memorial 68 victories.
With the regular season complete, Bakersfield’s prestigious Budweiser Nationals kicked off silly-season with the first of many high-paying “open shows” in California that occupy October and November months. Commuting from New York for his temporary construction job, Heckman pin-pointed the Budweiser Nationals as the one of a select few races he would travel to during this off-season due to his work schedule. “The Bud Nationals are a race I’ve been attending since I was a child, and it’s always been a goal of mine to earn the famed Budweiser jacket and trophy that come with winning the event.”
After five-weeks without racing, Heckman dusted off the cob webs and was fast right out of the box in hot laps. Opting to run a 2-barrel carbeurator, rather than the preferred performance enhancing 4-barrel, Heckman and crew knew they would give up some power early on under tacky track conditions, and in turn geared their decision towards the end of the night when the track would dry out. After a 6th place pill draw for the first heat race, Heckman had his work cut out for him in order to earn a good starting position for the feature. When the green flag dropped, Kyle quickly made some quick passes on the high side. By the end of the second lap, he worked traffic well and made his way to the 2nd position. Pacing the leader, Heckman could only make up a partial margin on the leader, and wound up finishing 2nd.
Under a six-inversion, it meant that Heckman would start in the 4th position for the 30-lap feature. When the green flag flew, Heckman quickly began working the cushion and worked his way up to 3rd. Running a relatively free handling car early on in the race, Kyle worked the high line for a few more laps, and it was apparent that the bottom line was faster and contained more moisture. After a couple of early cautions, Heckman was able to move up to 2nd after a minor slip up by the #14 car, and Kyle began to make his charge to the lead. Working the bottom on both ends of the track now, Heckman planted the car high up the inside berm on the exit of turn 4, and with plenty of forward bite, was able to make the pass for the lead, before the half-way mark of the race. Inching away each lap, Heckman built a straight away lead over second and began picking off lap traffic. On lap 26, the caution came out for the final time, eliminiting Heckman’s demanding lead. Keeping his composure, Heckman again began to pull away from the field by putting together four mistake-free laps at the end to become the ’09 Budweiser Nationals Champion.
“It was a great night for us, and it was very rewarding to come back home for this race and get the job done. The track conditions were very similar to the Bottoms Up 100, and I just focused on not breaking the tires loose and gaining as much forward bite possible on corner exit. I knew if I hit my marks every lap and stayed smooth that it was going to be tough for them to challenge us.”
Kyle would like to thank Milton Motorsports, Alpinestars,Olson Race Engines, Alpine Refrigeration, Five Star Grafix and his family for their continuous support. Kyle does not have any set plans for 2010, and is currently exploring all avenues. To learn more about Kyle, visit www.kyleheckmanracing.com.
