(1/2/2019)
After a highly successful rookie season in the Sport Mod class for Brent Curran, the Antioch native looks to build off an already impressive list of accomplishments heading into the 2019 season.
Curran and team would kick off the 2019 season on New Year’s Day at the Stockton Dirt Track, as some of the top drivers from across the state flocked to the 4/10ths mile oval to ring in the new year. A nice pill draw would set Curran up with a front row starting spot, and as soon as the green flag waved, he was gone. 2nd and 3rd place did all they could to reel Curran back in over the 8 lap heat race, but weren’t able to make any inroads, leading to an easy heat race win for Curran.
Curran’s pill draw luck would continue into the redraw, as Brent drew the pole position for the main event. From the drop of the green it again looked to be Brent’s race to lose. Despite a multitude of early cautions, Brent would pull away on each ensuing restart. Once the race finally settled down, Curran settled into a groove, setting the quickest lap of the race while holding a steady advantage over 2nd place runner Jason Nation.
As Curran closed in on lapped traffic, Nation slowly began closing in. Though Nation was starting to reel him in, Curran looked like he had a big enough advantage to hold on for the win, but that would all change in the last few laps. With just 2 laps to go, Curran caught up to the back of 2 lapped cars racing side by side. This slowed Curran enough for Nation to pull up to Curran’s bumper as they took the white flag. The two cars running side by side finally ran single file but Curran was left nowhere to go as Nation had pulled to his outside heading into turns 1 and 2. The two raced side by side as they headed down the backstretch, but Curran was still stuck behind lapped traffic, giving Nation the space needed to make a last lap pass for the win and forcing Curran to settle for 2nd in a race that he easily had the speed to win.
A disappointed Curran had this to say after the race: “Bitter sweet night tonight for the first race of 2019. Day started of great taking the win in the heat race. Started pole and lead the whole main till the last lap and got boxed in by a lap car. Ended up p2. I could sit here all night and think of plenty of excuses or scenarios that could’ve changed the way things turned out but bottom line is it’s racing and sometimes the cards don’t play out. Either way good start to the 2019 season and even better to spend the day with family and friends. Can’t thank the team enough for giving me a bad fast car and my sponsors for making everything possible. On to the next one.”
Brent would like to thank all of his 2019 Sponsors and Supporters, including:
Steadfast Constitution (Randy Cotton)
Steel City Motorsports (Keith and Amber Brown)
GRT Race Cars (Zach Wehlage)
All Flow Muffler and Auto Repair (Danny Larson and Jeffrey Erickson)
89 Design
Lunati
Interested in having writeups like these done for your race team throughout the 2019 season? Contact Daren Ricks of DRC Motorsports Media here on Facebook, at darenricks999@gmail.com or at (916) 229-7474 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.
Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media
DRC Motorsports Media 