By: Fast Time Media
9/14/23… Mesquite, Texas: Thursday, Friday, & Saturday Night, AJ Bender was scheduled to take on the USAC National Sprint Cars for three nights of action. He kicked the weekend off at Devils Bowl Speedway in Texas, before heading to Arkansas for two nights of racing at Texarkana 67 Speedway.
He started the weekend out at Devils Bowl where he timed in 22nd quick. AJ started his heat race out on the outside of the front row in 2nd. Unfortunately, he just wasn’t able to get comfortable in the car. AJ fell back to 2nd & would finish the heat race there.
A strong Semi Feature saw AJ rolling off from the inside of row four in the 7th spot. Unfortunately, he would not be able to get comfortable in the car during the B-main. It was his first time at the track & he would try his best to move forward. When the checkered flag fell, AJ finished 7th & that brought his night to an end.
Friday would be rained out, leaving just Saturday at Texarkana 67 Speedway. The night started out with time trials, where he would end up 22nd quickest out of 31 410 Non Winged Sprint Cars. This time he would start his heat race on the pole. After starting on the pole, AJ would fall backwards & finish 6th, missing a transfer to the feature.
Going into the Semi-Feature, AJ would start 6th as only four cars would transfer. AJ was not able to move forward in the B-main. He fell back to 7th & would finish the Semi-Feature & his weekend there.
“It was just a rough week all together. We could never get the car to handle correctly and struggled everywhere,” AJ added. “Saturday in Arkansas qualified 22nd and finished 6th in the heat race and 7th in the b main. Missing the main sadly.
It wasn’t the weekend AJ & his team wanted, but it was awesome for AJ to compete with the best Non Winged drivers in the world. He gained some great experience & will take that back to the West Coast to end the season.
AJ would like to thank his sponsors!
Next Race: TBA
2023 season stats: 24 events, 20 features, 1 win, 8 top-5's, 15 top-10's
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