Henderson and Sandvig Riding Momentum Heading into the Cappy and Knoxville Nationals

Justin Henderson continued to build momentum behind the wheel of the Mike Sandvig Motorsports No. 7 410 Sprint Car as he picked up a 12th place finish with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday and an eighth-place result at Huset’s Speedway on Sunday in regional competition.

With the upcoming Knoxville Nationals weekend on the horizon, the solid effort against stout competition has Henderson feeling confident about the direction of their program and their chances of being in the running come next week.

“We were fast out the gate one night and not so fast out the gate on another night, so it’s really hard to know what was right or wrong about the car,” said Henderson. “But we’ve definitely turned a corner since bringing back our old Maxim, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do here the next few weeks.”

Henderson began the evening by timing in 32nd quickest out of 55 cars in attendance with a fastest lap of 16.537 seconds during qualifying. He then advanced one position in a heat race to finish fifth and narrowly missed qualifying for the A-main by one position. As a result, he had to run the B-main, where he passed three cars to finish second and locked himself into the feature event.

“We didn’t qualify really well and had to work ourselves out of a hole,” said Henderson. “Anytime you must start in the back of a heat race you are really at a disadvantage. Throw in the number of cars there and the quality of those cars and you’ve got your hands full.”

Lining up from the 22nd starting position, Henderson knew he had an uphill battle ahead of him. However, he remained persistent and steadily worked his way forward to take the checkered flag in the 12th position. The 10 spots gained were good enough to earn the night’s hard charger award and he was also given the persistence award as well for the effort.

“The car was really racy in the feature, and we were kind of committed to the bottom and the car felt really good,” he said. “It’s hard to pass cars in this sport with the way these cars are, so to gain that much ground with the competition we had makes you feel good”

The team headed to Huset’s Speedway on Sunday and Henderson unloaded fast off the trailer as he qualified first among 24 cars in attendance to earn the night’s fast time award. He followed that up by advancing two positions in a heat race to finish second and earned the seventh starting position for the A-main following a re-draw.

With the leaders setting a quick pace, Henderson struggled during the A-main to make up any ground. He dropped backwards one position to finish in eighth, which was good enough for his 15th top ten finish of the season.

“I felt like the first couple laps in the feature were not up to par and that set the tone for us,” he said. “After that we were just kind of making laps and trying to stay clean. It wasn’t a bad night by any means, but also nothing special.”

Next up for the duo will be a trip to Knoxville Raceway on Sunday for the 11th Annual Capitani Classic, paying $9000 to win. This will be the final tune-up event for the duo as they’re set to compete next week in the famed Knoxville Nationals beginning Wednesday night.

“I think the Cappy is a race that we can really get some momentum going and I think it’ll be a good sign of how our Nationals will be,” said Henderson. “The format fits us well and I obviously know my way around Knoxville. We’re looking to kind of make a statement and now is as good of a time as ever to get rolling and I’m excited.”

WEEKEND RESULTS

July 30 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 32; Heat race: 5 (6); Feature: 12 (22).

July 31 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 8 (7).

 SEASON STATS

29 races, 0 wins, 8 top 5’s, 15 top 10’s, 20 top 15’s, 0 top 20’s

UP NEXT

Saturday, July 16th, at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa., Sunday, July 17th, at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Heartland Kitchen Solutions

Heartland Kitchen Solutions is a Pepperidge Farm route that services the Des Moines, Iowa, area large and small stores. Owned by race fan Curt Plough, who is a retired U.S Army First Sergeant, the business provides exceptional cookies, crackers, breads and more that carry a 75-year tradition of feeding families.

“Mike and Justin are kind of a low budget team and I always enjoy being a part of the underdog mentality,” Plough said. “They kind of remind me of myself and I’m happy to help take them over the hump with our support.”

Sandvig would also like to thank Powersports.com, Morton Buildings, GRP Motorsports, Eszlinger Electric, Maxim Racing Inc, DeBerg Flooring, Kyle Johnson Trucking, 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, and Simpson Race Products for their continued support.