Lattomus Finds His Rhythm at The Grove, Scores Back-to-Back Top-10s

After a frustrating stretch of rainouts to open the month, Preston Lattomus bounced back with back-to-back top-10 finishes at Williams Grove Speedway before a tougher night at Lincoln Speedway closed out the busy three-week stretch.

Rained Out, Not Slowed Down

Mother Nature had other plans for the first part of the schedule, with three consecutive events — August 7th, 8th, and 12th — washed out before Lattomus could turn a lap.

“Laps are important, and with the season starting to gradually slow down, it’s a big hit to miss those races,” Lattomus said of the layoff. 

The missed track time set up a demanding return to action once the weather cleared.

Speed on Display at The Grove

Lattomus’s first night back was one of his best of the season, even if the finishing position didn’t fully reflect it. He qualified 4th in his flight despite dealing with a magneto issue on the car, then dominated his heat race, leading all eight laps from the pole. In the 30-lap A-Main, Lattomus ran inside the top five for the first 27 laps before a bold restart decision with five laps remaining cost him track position.

“I restarted 4th with five laps to go and got greedy for more, chose the bottom, and tried to make it work, and then had guys come at me before I could get my momentum back and ended up losing three spots,” Lattomus explained. 

Still, he considered it a positive night overall. 

“I made good decisions and ran good laps for most of the race, and even when I made a mistake, it turned into a positive of getting some experience racing 1-on-1 with high-quality competition.”

Another Strong Run

Lattomus returned to Williams Grove a week later and delivered what he called one of the best features he’s run all year, working his way up to 7th before a late mistake dropped him back to a 10th-place finish from a 12th-place start. 

“It was a solid night all together… one of the best tracks we’ve had at the Grove this year and one of the best features I have run yet,” he said.

Qualifying — where he timed in 6th in his group — came with its own challenge.

“In hot laps I noticed the brakes were soft, so we bled them right before I went out. I could have used them and simply didn’t have any brake pedal in qualifying,” Lattomus said. “Still felt we had good speed and a good handling racecar.“

Track Position at Lincoln

The following night at Lincoln Speedway proved more difficult. Lattomus again qualified 6th in a tightly bunched field, then made an aggressive bid for the lead on the heat race start that didn’t pan out, dropping him from 2nd to 4th on the opening lap.

“It just wasn’t the right decision,” he admitted. “Even though I was better than the cars that passed me, the track wasn’t really wide enough to do anything unless they made mistakes as well.“

That result pushed him back to a 16th starting spot in the A-Main, where he worked forward to finish 14th.

“I passed a few cars early on in the feature and seemed to be going good,” Lattomus said. “But after a few laps I lost some of those spots back and just rode in that area with the same couple cars the rest of the race.”

The Bigger Picture

Looking at the stretch as a whole, Lattomus pointed to qualifying as a recent strength across the board — one that carries extra weight at Williams Grove specifically.

“Recently qualifying at all racetracks has been our strongest point of the night, and I think it just matters way more at the Grove than anywhere else,” he said.

As for what’s holding a breakthrough result back, Lattomus was direct: “I think consistency is my biggest struggle right now. And it’s not a bad thing — we can put every part of a night together in some form or another. Just doing it consistently and all together is what I’ve been struggling with.”

Up Next: Labor Day Duals

Lattomus will look to build on the momentum from Williams Grove during the two-day Labor Day Duals at Lincoln Speedway on September 5th and 6th, before the team takes a scheduled week off ahead of the Kevin Gobrecht Classic at BAPS Motor Speedway on September 19th.

“Excited to run the same place back-to-back nights and get two opportunities at having a good run at Lincoln,” Lattomus said. “As far as goals go, we will continue what we have been building and work hard to create good runs both nights.“