By: Fast Time Media
9/1/23… Cottage Grove, Oregon: Monday Night, Drake Standley kicked off Western Sprint Tour Speedweek South at Cottage Grove Speedway. A grueling stretch of 6 races in 6 days was underway & Drake looked to kick it off on a strong note.
He started the night out by timing in 20th quickest overall. That lined Drake up on the inside of row four in the 7th spot for his heat race. He would struggle & fall back to finish in 8th. Drake would head to the B-main where he started in the 5th spot & would finish 6th, missing the feature.
Cops Bay Speedway was up next for Drake on Tuesday & he looked to rebound from Monday. He started out by timing in 18th quickest. Drake started his heat race from the pole position. He quickly jumped out to the lead & went on to win heat race number three.
Drake then started the feature event from a solid 11th position. In a solid starting spot, Drake would slowly slip backwards. He would run some solid laps but wasn’t able to hold his position. When the checkered flag fell, he’d finish in the 15th position.
Wednesday would be another tough night for Drake & his team. Action at The Douglas County Dirt Track would start out with qualifying. He was the 19th car to hit the track. Going out late, Drake couldn’t lay down a lap he wanted & timed in 20th quick.
The heat race saw him start on the inside of row four in the 7th spot & finish in the 5th spot. Despite a solid heat race, Drake would have to go through the B-main. He rolled off from the 5th spot, and fell back to finish in the 7th spot & end his night.
Southern Oregon Speedway saw Drake bring home his best finish of Speedweek. He started the night out by being the 15th car to hit the track for qualifying. He would lay down a time of 12.032 & ended up timing in 5th quickest out of 22 Winged 360 Sprint Cars. Drake then started in the 5th spot for his heat race & finish in the 6th spot.
Feature event action saw Drake start in the 11th position. He would start to charge forward & gained a handful of spots as the feature event went on. The checkered flag dropped, and Drake would bring home a 6th place finish which would ultimately be his best finish of the week.
Returning to California on Friday Night, Drake would be in action at Silver Dollar Speedway. Qualifying would be straight up on of 50 cars. He would be the 25th car to hit the track & ended up timing in 23rd quickest. He started his heat race in 4th, but fell back to 5th where he finished.
That put him into the B-main where only four cars would transfer. He started in the 12th spot, but quickly would try to move into a transfer spot. After some cautions, Drake found himself just a few spots out of a transfer to the feature. A late race charge wouldn’t be enough, as Drake would finish 7th & end his night there.
It was an up & down week for Drake Standley during Speedweek. A 6th place finish would highlight the week & he showed some solid speed as the week went on.
Drake would like to thank his sponsors; Golden Valley Auto Body, Yuba City Scrap and Steel, Vanlare Steering Repair, and Standley Bros Hot Rods.
Next Race: 9/2, Placerville Speedway
2023 season stats: 18 events, 10 features, 0 wins, 4 top-5's, 5 top-10's
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