Race car drivers are some of the most superstitious people in the world. Even the simplest of alterations to the car, colors, or even wardrobe can set one off and get them in a worrisome state. The color green, peanuts, and racing on the 13th of the month are some of the many superstitions around. Among those superstitions, two were nailed at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on July 16th; not only was there a full moon that night, but also at one point during the night’s events a black cat went running across the track. Was High Point Racing worried? Not enough to keep them from a solid night.
"High Point Marketing/jb"
Austin Dyne returned to the #59 HPR late model in an effort to better his career best of ninth. After practicing tenth fastest, Dyne skipped second practice like the rest of the HPR team. He stepped up his game in qualifying and pulled off the ninth fastest lap time in the non-inverted field. When the green flag fell, Dyne worked on keeping the car in one piece and having a solid run in the nineteen car field. At the end of the race, Austin had fallen back a few spots, managing a thirteenth place finish.
Devon Ostheimer drove the #57 High Point Racing late model to another promising run. He ran fifth during the practice session and pulled off the eighth fastest time trial. After moving up to sixth early in the race, Devon settled into a groove in a tight battle. On lap 20, Ostheimer made a move into fifth and was looking to grab more when contact sent the #57 around in turn two. He had to restart in fifteenth and was still able to work his way back into the top ten, finishing in the ninth spot.
Dylan Lupton was looking strong in his #56 HPR machine, when he ran the fastest lap in practice. Qualifying was another strong run, with Dylan in running second fastest to his HPR teammate, Brandon Davis. With no invert, Lupton started outside of Davis and slotted into third spot where he ran the majority of the race. Battling hard with teammate Nik Romano, Dylan made a last lap effort to get to the second spot, but contact sent the #56 spinning across the line. Lupton finished fifth.
Ever since Nik Romano claimed his first win, he has been a threat every week and continues to ride the momentum. He ran the second fastest lap in first practice, and went on to qualify third in his #51 HPR car. After moving quickly into second, Romano focused on defense while holding off teammate Lupton throughout the entire race. Once the checkered flag fell, Nik finished in the second spot despite contact between himself and Lupton.
Brandon Davis showed up with another rocket ship and made sure everyone at the track knew. After running third in practice, Davis smoked the field in qualifying by beating everyone by over a tenth. From the green flag to the checkered, Brandon had no traffic in front of him as he led every circuit in the forty lap feature. The win marked Davis’ seventh of the season and second in a row.
The next outing for the High Point Racing late models is this Saturday, July 23rd at Toyota Speedway’s Kids Against Cancer night. For more information on High Point Racing and its drivers, please visit www.highpointracing.com.
