On Saturday, June 4th, Andrew Porter captured the checkered flag for the second time in 2011 in the Langer’s Juice S2 division at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Staying true to his word, Andrew led every lap of the race and won by over a second against his competition. The win topped off a flawless day for the Quick Pick Motorsports driver.
" am so proud tonight, my dream came true."— Kenny Smith
The S2 division qualified on the hottest track temperature so far this year, and the slick track was evident. There were two spins in time trials prior to Porter taking the track, and during his run had a fair share of excitement. Coming out of turn four on his first lap, the #43 was so sideways that he could read the print on the backstretch wall. Despite the slide, Andrew ran the fastest lap of the bunch and started on the pole in a rare, no-invert race.
Porter proved quickly that the fast run in qualifying was no fluke, as he pulled away from second place once the green flag flew for the race. His rival, Andrew Anderson, started further in the pack after also suffering from the track conditions. Being the first race of the night, the track was still cooling from the warmer day time temperatures which led to multiple spins throughout the race. It seemed that for a few laps after each restart Anderson could pressure Porter, only to eventually see the 43’s bumper pull away. “My car was more consistent and a good long run car,” Andrew said afterwards, “the car was on rails the whole night.” The win in the thirty lap event was redemption for Porter. “We changed some things in the car that made it more reliable, I knew what it was going to do,” Porter laughed and added “two hands helped too.” Andrew had to drive the previous race with one hand due to a broken collar bone.
The young driver was not the only person excited that he took the points lead. “I am so proud tonight, my dream came true” grandfather Kenny Smith said with a big smile, “when Andrew was born and I saw him in the hospital, I knew I would make him a racer.”
Quick Pick Motorsports will have a busy weekend on June 11th, with Aubree Porter in the mini stock race, and Kenny Smith battling in the super trucks. Andrew will be back racing on July 2nd. For more information on Andrew Porter and Quick Pick Motorsports, please visit www.quickpickmotorsports.com.
