Henderson Looking Toward World of Outlaws Visit to Knoxville Following a Frustrating Weekend

Justin Henderson scored a weekend best eighth-place finish as part of a doubleheader at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday night. The top ten finish was a welcomed sight after a lap one wreck resulted in a 24th place finish during the first feature event of the night.

Plans to compete during the weekend at Huset’s Speedway fell through after a rainstorm hit the Speedway on Sunday and postponed the event.

“I really thought we had a car capable of winning in the first one and we probably would have been on the podium in feature two if not for that wreck,” said Henderson. “We didn’t get to do near as much racing as we’d hoped this weekend, but to be able to bring home a top ten in a banged up car lessons the sting a little bit.”

Henderson kicked off the night at Knoxville by timing in ninth quickest out of 35 cars in attendance in time trials with a fastest lap of 15.280 seconds. He then advanced two positions in a heat race to finish in second and earned a spot in the feature re-draw as a result.

After a lengthy rain delay at the track, Henderson lined up from the outside second row for the A-main and was feeling confident about his chances of ending up in victory lane. However, any thoughts of scoring his first win of the 2022 racing season came to a screeching halt in turn’s three and four on the opening circuit. 

While running in the third position, the second place driver got turned around in front of him and left him with nowhere to go. He made heavy contact with the spinning car and ended up getting into the outside guardrail as a result. The team surveyed the damage and opted to get the car ready for the make-up feature instead of heading back out with a damaged racecar. As a result, he was credited with finishing 24th.

“When he started spinning, I wanted to get around him quickly to be able to keep going and I thought he was actually going to save it,” he said. “I just barely caught him and when it backed into the fence the car was in pretty rough shape. Right away our main focus was to be ready for the second feature and not lose too many points sitting in the trailer.”

The team made repairs to the car and Henderson was able to line up for the make-up feature event from the seventh position. As a result of the damage sustained in the first feature event, Henderson struggled with the handling of the car and he managed to bring the car home in one piece with an eighth-place finish. The top ten finish was the ninth of the season for Henderson aboard the Sandvig Motorsports No. 7.

“We got the car in good enough shape to get back on track, but it was a monster to handle,” said Henderson. “I fell back to 14th actually, but I tried something really unorthodox to make the car feel half decent and we actually managed to get going and ended up eighth.”

Next up for Henderson and Sandvig will be a pair of $10,000-to-win World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car starts on Friday and Saturday at Knoxville before they turn their attention to defending their points lead on Sunday at Huset’s Speedway.

With the added money on the line and the uptick in competition with the Outlaws in town, Henderson is hoping the speed they have had all season to start the night at Knoxville will pay off when it counts.

“We’re excited to compete with the Outlaws and we’ll be doing it with a new car after last weekend’s wreck,” said Henderson. “I hate to lose a car that we have had so much success in, but this one is good too and we’re ready to let her rip. We’ve been fast all season to start the night at Knoxville and the way the Outlaw format works you’ve got to be fast right off the trailer and I’m hopeful we can break through with a win or a podium and forget about last weekend.”

WEEKEND RESULTS

June 4 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 24 (3)

June 4 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: NA; Heat race: NA; Feature: 8 (7)

SEASON STATS

12 races, 0 wins, 6 top 5s, 9 top 10s, 10 top 15S, 10 top 20S

UP NEXT 

Friday and Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. Sunday at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D

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Sandvig would also like to thank Morton Buildings, GRP Motorsports, Eszlinger Electric, Heartland Kitchen Solutions, DeBerg Flooring, R2 Enterprise, GRP Motorsports, Team Enterprise Metal Fabrication and Powder Coating, Rider Racing Engines, Winters Performance, Schoenfeld Headers, BK Racing TI Components, SBS FK Shocks, Wings Unlimited, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Hinchman Racewear, Maxim Racing Inc. and Simpson Race Products for their continued support.