SANTEE, California — The ‘calm before the storm’ was an understatement for Saturday night’s event at Havasu 95 Speedway. Bad weather, little practice, and a new season blues plagued Round One in the ASA Truck Series season opener. Even though it rarely rains in the desert, the weather in Lake Havasu City, Arizona decided otherwise and rained out Friday practice and most of Saturday as well. Taylor Miinch didn’t let the thunderstorms get him down as he won his first ASA Truck race in just his second season in a new truck. Some teams chose not to take the weather risk and stayed home. With numerous rookies and new season jitters, the teams that did travel from all over the southwest, from St. Louis, Missouri and Peak Hill, Australia were all more than ready to race.
" If you would like to find out more about the ASA Truck Series contact Todd or Lisa McLauchlan at 619-596-6816 / mcracers@prodigy.net or go to www.asatruckseries.com. "
When the sun came out and dried up the track, fast time in qualifying went to a brand new driver in the series Darren Amidon driving the #33 Chevy Colorado. This was very impressive driving for someone who had about 40 laps ever racing anything bigger than a Legends car prior to laying down a 15.964 in style. There was also a four truck Trophy Dash that was an exciting way to start the year with #9 Jason Black piloting his Golden Lane Ventures Chevy to a quick victory.
The rain shortened 50-lap main event was a solid, close race up until Lap 45 when the spinning and excitement began. The first segments had side-by-side battles and great passing by many ASA Trucks. Whether it was the excitement of a new season, being held up from all the rain or just first race difficulty, the drivers seem to struggle to finish the last five laps. Luckily, Taylor Miinch had the support of his new team ATK Motorsports and what Taylor said was “my complete confidence” in the truck to drive to his first ever victory in an ASA Truck. Last year, he said “we struggled so much and this feels so exciting now to have such a great truck”. Miinch credits Kevin Smith, Dallas Leininger and all ATK Motorsports for giving him a truck he could trust would work and take him to the lead. He also thanked his Dad, Mom, family, the ASA Series, King Taco, Charlie’s Hub Caps and John Del Construction for their support. When asked his feelings about the last five laps of craziness, Taylor felt “the drivers were all too anxious” and he felt confident and mellow with his truck which paid off with a win. Taylor is also driving a Late Model at Irwindale for Position One Motorsports and hopes “the momentum from this win will carry over to next weekend at Irwindale”.
As for the upcoming race for the ASA Truck Series in Chandler, Arizona at the Firebird International Raceway, Miinch is “super excited to run a road course” along with the many entries signed up for that April 23rd event. He has some road course experience with all his go kart racing background and hopes to learn even more in the trucks at the challenging West Course at Firebird. Information about that race and updates for the series can be found at www.asatruckseries.com.
New driver #71 Steve Knight from Peak Hill, NSW, Australia did an incredible job finishing second and returning driver Cameron Jocelyn was third in the second ATK Motorsports entry. They were followed by #28 Branden Underwood and #9 Jason Black to round out the top five.
The race in a few weeks at the road course already has a great deal of interest from returning drivers like Mike Kai, Colin & Sean Dickinson, Mark Allison and Jeff Catlin. There are new series drivers also attempting to start at the road course like Jeff Barrister, Doug Petsco and Steve Knight from Australia is really excited as he “usually turns both left and right at his tracks back at home”. Entry forms and race schedules are available on the website for the April 22-23 event in Chandler, Arizona.
If you would like to find out more about the ASA Truck Series and how your company could be part of the growing excitement across the nation about this dynamic series, contact Todd or Lisa McLauchlan at 619-596-6816 / mcracers@prodigy.net or go to www.asatruckseries.com. Our Facebook page is: asa-truck-series and we have a YouTube page as well with exciting videos to view.
