By: Fast Time Media
10/12/23… Bakersfield, California: Saturday Night, AJ Bender was in action at Kern County Raceway Park. He would take on the USAC West Coast 360’s as he hopped aboard the May Motorsports #8W for the Saturday Night show.
The night would get off to a tough start for AJ. He would go out for qualifying but didn’t get the lap that they wanted. Ultimately, AJ would time the May Motorsports #8W in 12th quickest overall for time trials.
Next up for AJ was the heat race, where he would roll off from the inside of the second row in the 3rd spot. It was a pretty straight up heat race, as AJ would stay in 3rd for most of the race. When the checkered flag dropped on the heat race, he was able to come home with a 3rd place finish.
“I didn’t qualify great & started 3rd in the heat race & finished 3rd. Jayson made some changes to get me more comfortable.”
Going into the feature, AJ would have some work to do as he rolled off form 12th. Despite the race track being rough, AJ quickly began to make his way towards the front. By lap eight or nine, he had already found himself in the runner-up spot & looked to reel in the leader.
After biking in turn one, AJ fell back to the 3rd spot but continued on. With four laps to go, he was running down second place. Unfortunately, the steering box locked up & brought AJ’s good run to an early end.
“In the main I started 12th & was going forward but the track was very rough. Going into turn 1 was like rolling the dice on how hard it was going to bike. By lap 8 or 9 I got into second. Later in the race I fall back to thrid after biking into 1. I was able to run down second but unfortunately with 4 laps to go, the steering box locked up & ended my night.”
It was an up & down night for AJ. He would struggle in qualifying & the heat race. However, they figured things out for the feature & AJ was rolling. He potentially had a race winning car before his feature came to an early end. AJ will be back in action Saturday Night at Mohave Valley Raceway.
“Overall I had a great time with the May crew & I thought we were good and fast but shit happens.
Again can’t thank Jayson May enough for letting me drive that beautiful car. Next race is This weekend at Mohave with CRA. I got rid of that GAS chassis and I piece together my olé faithful DRC.“
AJ would like to thank Jayson May for the opportunity to run his beautiful car!
Next Race: 10/14, Mohave Valley Raceway
2023 season stats: 26 events, 22 features, 1 win, 8 top-5's, 15 top-10's
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