Hartlaub Hits His Stride With Strong Month of June

Kody Hartlaub had a busy and productive month of June in the Brewer Home Improvements / Moose Blocks / Smith Titanium / SRR Engines / Siegel Racing / T and N Solutions / Jason Emlet Iron Valley Real Estate / Bigham Appraisals / Pretzel Boy / HAAS Shocks / C.H. Folk & Son Feeds / Chop Designs / Herr Electric, No.2.

Through the Spring portion of the 2022 season, although he had not cracked the win column yet, Hartlaub has had consistent speed and has been near the front on a regular basis.  If the month of June is any indication, the East Berlin (PA) wheelman is poised for an even better Summer.

June 4th:  Steve Smith Tribute / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA

     [47 cars, Qualifying 21st Flight 2, Heat 10th (11), C-main 2nd (2), B-main 15th(18)]

As Kody Hartlaub said prior to the Steve Smith Tribute 410 sprint car race at Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania, he had zero expectations but was going to give it everything he had.  

Hartlaub qualified 21st in Flight 2 of the 47-car field, then looked to convert his 11th place starting spot in the third heat race into at least a good starting spot in the B-main.  He nearly had that goal achieved.  After reaching 7th place in the 10-lap qualifying race, with nowhere to go, he was collected by an incident in front of him.  Hartlaub rejoined the field and managed a 10th place finish.

Relegated to the C-main, Hartlaub held onto his 2nd starting spot throughout to move himself and his team into the B-main starting lineup.  While transferring to the A-main was a long shot, the seat time and laps are invaluable.  Hartlaub was able to advance from 18th to 15th in the 12-lap consolation race. 

“That was fun.“, a grinning Hartlaub said.  “I learned a lot tonight.  As powerful as they are, these things (410 sprint cars) require finesse.  I can tell you; I was a better driver at the end of the night than I was at the start.  Hopefully I will get more 410 opportunities eventually.“

The stats from Hartlaub’s 410 sprint car outing aren’t the story.  The growth as a sprint car driver, the knowledge obtained, is the story.  The benefits will pay dividends in his 358 sprint car seat as well.

“I really wanted to support this event because I’m friends with Stevie (Smith) and his company (Smith Titanium) supports me.  Stevie’s dad was a legend in the sport, and it was an honor to get to race in his event tonight.  I want to thank MooseBlocks.com again for arranging this opportunity for me to compete with one of Shark Racing’s Newman’s Racing Engines under the hood.  My thanks to Shark Racing as well for that.“, Hartlaub shared.

June 10th:  Summer Series / Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA

     [28 cars, Heat 7th (6), A-main 10th (20)]

Friday night, June 10th, brought Hartlaub back to Williams Grove for the first time since his 10th place finish there on May 20th.  The 28 cars on hand would compete in three, 8-lap heat races with the top six finishers from each advancing directly to the feature event.  Only the top four would make the redraw to earn a starting spot in the first six rows of the main event.

An unlucky draw put the East Berlin (PA) resident near the back of the first heat race of the evening.  From his 7th starting spot, Hartlaub was only able to climb to 6th, putting him in the A-main but with a starting spot deep in the field.

From the drop of the green on the 25-lap 358 sprint car Summer Series A-main, Hartlaub methodically worked his way forward from his 20th starting spot.  He reached 12th on lap fourteen and it looked like that might be the pinnacle.  A late surge propelled Hartlaub into 11th at the white flag and into to 10th on the final circuit.

“We tried something a little different coming into tonight and I felt really good in hot laps, but when we got in the heat race we were in dirty air and the car didn’t feel as good as it had in clean air.  We made changes for the feature and obviously it was a lot better coming through traffic.  We’re pretty happy with getting out of here with our second consecutive top ten, especially the way the night started.”, Hartlaub explained.

June 11th:  Fallen Firefighters Night / Lincoln Speedway / Abbottstown, PA

     [29 cars, Heat 3rd (4), A-main 2nd (12)]

Four heats were set by pill draw for the 29 cars on hand at Lincoln Speedway for their Fallen Firefighters Night, which included live music, corn hole, race cars, driver meet and greets, food and drinks in the parking lot prior to the evening’s events.

The top five finishers from each heat would transfer directly to the A-main, while only the top two would be handicapped to determine the top eight starting spots for the 20-lap finale.

Kody Hartlaub lined up outside row number two for the fourth and final 10-lap heat race of the show.  He was within striking distance of earning a handicap spot, but Hartlaub was never quite able to mount a challenge to eventual runner-up, Kyle Keen.  He settled for a 3rd place finish.

From his 12th starting spot in the feature event, Hartlaub charged inside the top ten by lap three.  With a car under him that was enabling him to use any lane he needed, he steadily worked his way toward the front, reaching the top five by the halfway point of the race.

The grind continued as Hartlaub chipped away and reached the 2nd spot with five laps remaining.  He set his sights on leader Steve Owings and closed in lap by lap but ultimately ran out of time.  When the checkered flag fell, Hartlaub crossed the line in the runner-up spot, a mere 7-tenths of a second behind Owings.  

“What a weekend!  Two Hard Charger awards in two nights.  We struggled a little bit early on both nights, but we figured some things out and passed ten cars in both features.  That’s the thing we will take away from this.  We got better.  We found something that I think will help us going forward.“, Hartlaub commented.

“I want to send a special ‘thank you’ to PA Dyno for sponsoring the Hard Charger award at Williams Grove and to everyone involved with The National Fallen Firefighters Guise-Little Memorial race and Hard Charger award at Lincoln: Ultra Shield Race Products, LLC, 717 Posse Gang, and Citizens Fire Company No 1.”

June 24th:  Williams Grove Speedway / Mechanicsburg, PA

     [30 cars, Heat 2nd (4), A-main 2nd (6)]

Two weeks after his second consecutive top-10 finish at Williams Grove Speedway, Kody Hartlaub returned to the famous Pennsylvania oval with the Brewer Home Improvements / Moose Blocks / Smith Titanium / SRR Engines / Siegel Racing / T and N Solutions / Jason Emlet Iron Valley Real Estate / Bigham Appraisals / Pretzel Boy / HAAS Shocks / C.H. Folk & Son Feeds / Chop Designs / Herr Electric, No.2.

The 358 sprint cars were on the card as part of opening night of PA Speedweek and 30 teams signed in for competition.  Three 8-lap heats were set up by pill draw with the top six finishers transferring to the feature event.  The top four from each would participate in a redraw for one of the top twelve starting spots in the 20-lap finale.

Kody Hartlaub started 4th in heat race number three and quickly went on offense.  He was able to work his way into the runner-up spot by the second circuit, then went to work trying to run down leader Kyle Keen.  Hartlaub came home 2nd, securing a spot in the redraw.

The redraw put Hartlaub outside the third row for the start of the A-main.  He held down the 4th spot through the first ten laps.  As the combination of the car and track came to him, he was able to close in and eventually wrestle 3rd away from the No.38D of Kyle Denmyer.

A few laps later Hartlaub was able to get by the No.99A of Devin Adams and lay claim to the 2nd spot.  Over the remaining eight laps, Kody pursued the No.21R of Tyler Brehm to no avail.  He rode home in the runner-up spot to record his best career finish at Williams Grove Speedway.

“I’m feeling really good about our program right now.  We’ve been pretty consistent.  We found something last time we were here, and it helped us again tonight.  Hopefully we can keep building on that and keep this going.“, Hartlaub said.

Hartlaub’s ability to consistently perform at a high level is reflected in the 2022 Championship Points at his primary tracks.  He currently sits second in the Lincoln Speedway standings and fifth in Williams Grove Speedway’s rankings.

The next box for Kody Hartlaub Racing to check off is a trip to victory lane.  That likely isn’t far off considering the consistent performances they have turned in this year.  Eleven of Hartlaub’s twelve starts in his 358 sprint car have resulted in top-10 finishes.  Seven of those are top-5’s.  

“We just have to do our job and keep putting ourselves in position to win.  If we do that, eventually we’ll break through.“, Hartlaub commented.

Up Next

Kody Hartlaub Racing will take a two week break, then will return to action at Lincoln Speedway on Saturday, July 9th

Season Stats (358’s)

12 races, 0 wins, 7 top 5’s, 11 top 10’s, 12 top 15’s