When Dalton Sargeant stepped into the No. 77 Big Tine Ford Fusion for Cunningham Motorsports this season, there were high hopes all around. When the first win came at Salem Speedway just three races into the season, it was safe to say he’s turned those hopes into expectations. Now, Sargeant moves on to Toledo Speedway for the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care where he looks to get his second short track win of the season.
“We have a great car going into the race,” said Sargeant. “We were able to come and test at Toledo and I was able to pick up from what I learned last year about the track. Turns one and two can be tricky with what line to take, but it’s a fun track to race and I’m really looking forward to this weekend. We already got the No. 77 Big Tine Ford Fusion its first win this season and hopefully we can carry on the momentum at these short tracks and do it again.”
Sargeant saw success last year at Toledo, coming away with a second-place finish and didn’t hesitate to get this season off on the right note with a win at Salem Speedway. Now, if that isn’t enough momentum for Sargeant, he’s also got a bit of a ‘dream team’ behind him at Toledo. With three-time Cometic Crew Chief of the Year Chad Bryant at the helm, he’s also got 10-time ARCA Champion Frank Kimmel as his eyes from the spotter’s stand.
“You really can’t come up with a better team,” said Sargeant. “My crew chief Chad has so much knowledge about these cars and if you pair that with someone who’s won at Toledo nine times…I don’t really see how it can get much better. Everyone at the shop who works on these cars does so much to make sure they’re the best they can be and we’re coming off of a short track win…we know these Cunningham cars are fast at Toledo…I’m just really excited for this weekend. We hit a rough patch at Talladega, but I definitely think we’ll be able to turn it around and get back on the right track this weekend.”
Bryant noted that the Toledo test was not only good for Sargeant to get reacquainted with the track, but also get back in a car after he was involved in an accident that ended his day at Talladega.
“It was a hard hit that he took at Talladega and really the only thing you can do to get over it is to get back in the car and keep going,” said Bryant. “Dalton always has sound focus when he’s at the race track and he’s always been strong at short tracks. He’s an easy driver to work with and every week his goal is to be better than he was the last week and if he keeps that up, we’re shaping up to have a really good race at Toledo and rest of the 2017 season.”
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