Blake Hahn Triumphant In Hockett/McMillin Memorial Opener At Lucas Oil Speedway

The trip to Victory Lane with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network that has eluded Blake Hahn for years finally became a reality on Thursday night, as the Smiley’s Racing Products/DriveWFX.com No. 52 battled tooth and nail through Night 1 of the 9th annual General Tire Hockett/McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway.

“This is a win that I wanted really bad. It’s not Saturday night, but it’s still a big deal for me, especially coming in here with 69 other drivers,” stated Hahn.

Blake’s eighth career SawBlade.com A-Feature victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the No. 52 took the green from the pole with Josh Baughman in tow from the third starting spot. Caution after the first lap following contact between Dylan Westbrook and Robbie Price that sent the No. 21p around, the caution lights came on again after Lap 3 for Brandon Hanks who slammed into the wall.

Rolling the bottom line on the restart, Baughman showed a nose to Hahn through the third and fourth turns on Lap 4. Adjusting his line low to keep the No. 17 at bay, Hahn slipped out of the groove, letting Baughman take the top spot.

Red working Lap 6 for Jeff Swindell, who went airborne and landed hard on the bottom frame rails but was unharmed, Baughman’s lead was short-lived as Hahn rolled by on the cushion through turns one and two before diving the bottom on turns three and four.

On the race for the lead, Hahn stated, “I thought I need to run the top, and then Josh came in and he was working the bottom really well in three and four. After he showed it to me, I knew I needed to get down there and just missed it. Once I got by on the restart, I got back down there and just focused on not letting the car drift and it felt really good.”

Putting distance on the No. 17, Hahn continued to work the top of turns one and two and the hub of turns three and four. Finding traffic on Lap 15, Blake’s road was blocked, giving the Fischer Body Shop No. 17 a hole to retake the lead on Lap 16.

Diving to the bottom entering turns three to block Baughman from getting the line, the two tapped tires, forcing Josh up the track and giving the race lead back to Hahn on Lap 17. Red flag the following lap for Jay Russell, who went over after tagging an infield tire, Hahn brought the field back to green two more times after that; Sam Hafertepe, Jr. clipped a tire on the restart, followed by Jack Dover going around on Lap 19.

Green for the final time with six laps to run, Hahn darted away as Baughman came under fire from Paul Nienhiser and Dylan Westbrook. Contact with the No. 47x who squeezed between the No. 17 and the wall off the fourth turn, the rub sent Josh sideways as the field clicked off Lap 21 but was able to recover and avoid a caution.

With the race for second giving Hahn all the room he needed, Blake hit the finish line 0.900 seconds ahead of Dylan Westbrook, who came through the field from eighth. Paul Nienhiser grabbed third with Derek Hagar moving from seventh to fourth. Josh Baughman ended up getting shuffled back to fifth.

Roger Crockett in sixth was followed by Ayrton Gennetten. Moving up from 12th, Sean McClelland grabbed eighth with Kameron Key grabbing his first career top-ten finish with the National Tour. Falling back to 16th at the mid-point of the A-Feature, Harli White came back to finish 10th.

A field of 70 drivers from 15 states and three countries were on hand to open the 9th annual General Tire Hockett/McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway. The entire field will run again on Friday, September 20, 2019, with event points from Thursday and Friday combined to set the lineups for Saturday night. Going into Friday, Blake Hahn leads the event points with 169 markers. Dylan Westbrook at 159 is trailed by Paul Nienhiser with 152. Derek Hagar at 147 is followed by Josh Baughman at 144 points.

Friday, September 20, 2019, opens at 4:00 P.M. with racing at 7:05 P.M. (CT). Information on Lucas Oil Speedway can be found at http://www.lucasoilspeedway.com.

For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the nine Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2019, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).

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