Jordon Mallett adapted quickly to a new team last weekend during an ASCS National Tour doubleheader in Kansas.
Mallett will spend several weeks behind the wheel of the Brandon Anderson Motorsports No. 55b as a fill-in driver for Anderson, who is recovering from a broken arm. The partnership began last Friday during the Bullring Nationals hosted by Rush County Speedway in La Crosse.
“They have a good program so it’s a matter of trying to get myself comfortable in the car and acclimated working with them,” Mallett said. “I don’t think people realize there’s a lot to that. We showed up Friday and had two laps in hot laps to acclimate. Then it was time to roll out to qualify to put ourselves in position for the night.”
Mallett was quick out of the trailer, setting quick time in his group and advancing from fourth to third place in a heat race. A fourth-place finish in the dash started him on the outside of the second row in the main event.
“I’m glad we were able to put down a good time and acclimate quickly,” he said. “All night long, even though we were trying to figure out how to get me comfortable, we had speed. For searching as much as we were and trying to get the car comfortable for me, we had speed. That was a huge positive. The track got really hooked up and locked down in the feature more than we prepared for. All night we worked to get the car out of the track. We were too snug. The feature exemplified that. We were okay, but know we could have been better.”
Mallett ended with a ninth-place result.
Saturday showcased a trip to Dodge City Raceway Park for the Steve King Memorial and once again Mallett was fast. He set quick time in his group and maneuvered from fourth to third place in a heat race for the second straight night. Mallett then placed fifth in the dash to start the A Main fifth.
“We made ourselves better all day Saturday,” he said. “We qualified great again and heat raced good. We tried a couple of things to refine it and were so-so in the dash. I think we had a better car in the feature than we were able to show. We were really consistent and able to make our car do things others couldn’t. I was counting on us being in dirty air, but every time we’d get to traffic and feel we could be a contender the caution would come out. Then we’d go another three or four or five laps before we got to traffic. That was the only bummer.”
The fourth-place outing was his best finish with the ASCS National Tour since last August, adding to his confidence as the team will return to competition for the ASCS National Tour Speedweek June 11 at Texarkana 67 Speedway in Texarkana, Ark.; June 13 at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla.; June 14 at Arrowhead Speedway in Colcord, Okla.; and June 15 at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Okla.
“I feel pretty good going into it,” he said. “I’m comfortable. We were able to tune a lot over the course of the weekend. We had a small track the first night and a 3/8 mile track the second. We could prepare ourselves better for Speedweek.”
QUICK RESULTS –
May 31 – Rush County Speedway in La Crosse, Kan. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Dash: 4 (3); Feature: 9 (4).
June 1 – Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kan. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Dash: 5 (3); Feature: 4 (5).
SEASON STATS –
6 races, 1 win, 3 top fives, 4 top 10s, 5 top 15s, 6 top 20s
UP NEXT –
June 11 at Texarkana 67 Speedway in Texarkana, Ark.; June 13 at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla.; June 14 at Arrowhead Speedway in Colcord, Okla.; and June 15 at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Okla., with the ASCS National Tour
ILP PR
