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Tony Jackson and Scott Hess Racing competed last Saturday as part of the Weldon Sterner Memorial at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA, and brought home an 18th-place finish.

The top 20 finish was the fourth of the season as part of Jackson’s rookie campaign in the 410 Sprint Car ranks and continued a trend of qualifying for A-main events and learning.

“The main goal each weekend is to make the field and we were able to check that box,” said Jackson. “We’ve had some bad luck at Lincoln this year and this was really our first shot to run a full night there, so ultimately I’m happy with the run we had.”

A total of 32 410 Sprint Cars attended Lincoln on Saturday for the $20,000-to-win event and Jackson kicked off the night by qualifying fourth quickest in his group during time trials. He then finished fifth in a heat race to grab a transfer spot for the A-main.

With a goal to move forward in the feature event, Jackson lined up for the 40-lap race from the 20th starting position. He was able to advance as high as 16th on the grid, but on a tricky track, he struggled to make much ground and ultimately fell to 18th.

While he would have liked to have finished better, it was the opportunity to learn from the leaders and try new things in lapped traffic that had Jackson most excited.

“Once I got lapped by Macri, I just kind of settled in behind him and honestly that was quite the learning experience just seeing where he was running and what he was doing,” he said. “I saw he was running the top and I jumped up there a time or two and it just felt good to kind of branch out and show what I’m capable of.”

This upcoming weekend will be a busy one for Jackson and Scott Hess Racing as they’re set to compete in three different events. They’ll tackle 410 Sprint Car action on Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA, and Sunday at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, PA.

“The 410 Sprint Car shows are utilizing the same formats we’ve been seeing all year, so we have a good idea of what to expect going into them,” said Jackson. “We’ll stick to the plan of getting in the feature for both shows and hopefully we can compete for some top 15’s.”

In between the two 410 starts, Jackson will compete in the winged Super Sportsman competition at BAPS on Saturday as part of the Larry Jackson Tribute race. While the race honors his father and he enters as the defending champion of the event, Jackson knows it will be tough to come out and repeat against a stellar field of competitors.

“We obviously know what it takes to win in the sportsman division, and it is nice to gain a little confidence by picking up a win in my dad’s race, but this is our first winged Sportsman event of the year,” said Jackson. “There’s going to be a full field of guys who have been working hard and running fast each weekend in the Sportsman division and we’re kind of coming in as an outsider. I’d love to get a win, but we’ll just do our best and enjoy the night surrounded by a lot of family and friends.”

WEEKEND RESULTS
April 20 – Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA – Heat race: 5 (3); Feature: 18 (20).

SEASON STATS
8 races, 0 wins, 1 top 5, 1 top 10’s, 1 top 15’s, 4 top 20’s

UP NEXT
Friday, April 26th, at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA., Saturday, April 27th, at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, PA., Sunday, April 28th at BAPS Motor Speedway.

Tony Jackson and Scott Hess Racing continued to make strides in the 410 Sprint Car ranks as the Newville, PA native brought home a career-best 16th-place finish on Sunday at BAPS Motor Speedway.

Jackson and Hess initially planned to compete in three consecutive nights of racing in the 410 Sprint Car ranks, but rain again reared its ugly head and canceled planned action at Williams Grove on Friday and Lincoln Speedway on Saturday.

“We briefly considered running Port Royal on Saturday, but it just didn’t look like it would be a great time weather-wise and with the wind,” said Jackson. “In terms of BAPS, they watered the track and it was pretty top dominant. I was probably running a half lane lower than the guys in front of us and that’s a prime example of the learning curve and just where I need to grow.” 

A total of 43 410 Sprint Cars attended BAPS on Sunday and Jackson kicked off the night by qualifying second quickest in his group during time trials. He then finished where he started – third – to lock himself into the A-main with the 12th starting position.

“We knew we had to be fast out the gate and we got a pretty good start to the heat race and was running second,” he said. “Ultimately, we slipped back to third and were able to get in the show which is obviously the goal each week.”

With a plan to continue to learn and make laps in mind, Jackson stayed steady inside of the top 15 for most of the 25-lap event. He narrowly missed out on his first career top-15 finish in the division after finishing 16th. However, with the high number of cars on hand, the team was happy to get in the show and bring the car home in one piece.

“Outside of a sanctioned event, I can’t really think of too many instances this early in the year to have 43 cars at the track,” said Jackson. “I didn’t expect that and I knew we had an uphill climb just to get in the show as a result. So ultimately to get in the show and run 16th is a pretty cool deal for us as a team and it’s something we can be proud of.”

Jackson will return to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA on Friday to compete in 410 Sprint Car action before making his third start of the season at the Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA on Saturday. 

“Mother Nature doesn’t look like it will do us any favors this weekend, but I’m excited to get back to the track and start contending for top 15 finishes and not just making shows,” said Jackson. “Lincoln is a track that I’ve kind of struggled at, but ultimately I think we’re learning there and hopefully we get in two A-main starts this weekend and some positive results.”

WEEKEND RESULTS

 April 14 – BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, PA – Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 16 (12). 

 SEASON STATS

 7 races, 0 wins, 1 top 5, 1 top 10’s, 1 top 15’s, 3 top 20’s

 UP NEXT

 Friday, April 19th, at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Saturday, April 20th, at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.

Tony Jackson competed Sunday at BAPS Motor Speedway in the Scott Hess Racing 410 Sprint Car and the Newville, Pa native brought home a 22nd-place finish. The 410 start was the third of his season and his first in the division at the York Haven, PA facility.

“With 34 cars in attendance, we had a goal to just make the show,” said Jackson. “Once we got it in the show, the goal was to then complete 30 laps and ultimately, we fell short of that. But the truth is we’ve made two features in three shows, so we’re off to a good start.”

Jackson kicked off the night in qualifying by laying down a fastest lap of 15.225 seconds, which was good enough for fourth quickest in his group. As a result, he started on the pole for a heat race. He ran second for five laps before falling to fourth and locked himself into the night’s A-main event.

“I didn’t get a good jump and Cory Eliason got by me, but we ultimately were able to pass him which was cool,” said Jackson. “For about five laps I was feeling like a rockstar, but I didn’t adjust accordingly and I kind of went into preservation mode to ensure we got in the show.”

Jackson lined up 16th for the 30-lap A-main and he settled into the 17th position for the first half of the race. However, two cars got together, and one turned around in front of him. This left him nowhere to go and ended his night early. He was credited with finishing 22nd.

“BAPS is the track I’m most familiar with, so it was nice to make some competitive laps there in the 410 and keep this racing journey moving forward,” he said. “We had some speed early in the night and we did some good things that we can build on, so overall we’ll chalk this one up as a learning experience.

Next up for Jackson will be a trip to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa on Friday to compete in 410 Sprint Car action before running both winged and wingless in the sportsman on Saturday at BAPS.

With mother nature providing tough track conditions during his first start at Williams Grove earlier this season, Jackson feels like this weekend will give him a better feel of the historic facility and what it takes to be competitive there.

“The goal will be to get ourselves in the show and make as many laps as possible. I talked to Lance Dewease during my first start, and he reminded me that we were facing an uphill climb trying to learn in Central PA on a track as complex as Williams Grove when the weather did us no favors. Hopefully, we can get a nice surface this Friday and decent weather, so we can really get an idea of our package there and just learn as much as possible,” said Jackson.

“When it comes to the Sportsman, this is an opportunity to race in front of a lot of our sponsors and hopefully we can come home with two victories. If anything, maybe we can gain some confidence behind the wheel that will lend itself to the 410 side of things,” he added.

WEEKEND RESULTS

March 24 – BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, PA – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 4 (1); Feature: 22 (16). 

SEASON STATS

4 races, 0 wins, 1 top 5, 1 top 10’s, 1 top 15’s, 1 top 20’s

UP NEXT

Friday, March 29th, 410 Sprint Car at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., Saturday, March 30th, both Winged and Wingless Sportsman at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa.