Henderson and Sandvig Searching for Speed and Consistency at Knoxville Raceway

Justin Henderson wheeled the Mike Sandvig Motorsports No. 7 410 Sprint Car to a 12th-place finish Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway. 

After multiple weekends filled with up and down results for the duo behind the wheel of a new fresh Maxim Chassis, the consistent night was a nice change of pace and has the team feeling positive going forward.

“We pulled out this Maxim when the Outlaws came to Huset’s and it just seems we have been chasing the car and speed,” said Henderson. “We might be turning the corner with things here and I’m hopeful we’re on the right track.”

Henderson began the evening by timing in 18th quickest in qualifying with a fastest lap of 16.691 seconds. He then advanced one position in a heat race to pick up the victory and secure a spot in the night’s $6,000-to-win feature event.

“The car was really good in the heat race and it felt as comfortable as it has since we pulled it out,” he said. “It’s nice to win a heat race, but we need to time better to really benefit from it.”

Lining up from the 13th starting position for the feature, Henderson settled just inside of the top 15 for the first half of the event. Late in the A-main he was able to move forward into the 12th position, but with the feature going non-stop and the field getting spread out, he wasn’t able to gain any more ground and settled for 12th at the checkered flag.

The top 15 finish was the duo’s 15th of the season in 23 starts. More importantly, it was a welcome sight following what has been a grind to find the perfect mixture of comfort and speed since rolling out a brand new Maxim Chassis a few weeks back.

“Mike and the guys are working really hard to get this thing rolling good and I know we’ve got a car and team capable of winning and running up front,” he said. “I’ve been around this sport for a while and I know as much as anyone that sometimes it just takes time. It could be the smallest thing keeping us from getting everything out of the car that we can and I’m confident in Maxim’s product and our team that we’ll get there very soon.”

Next up for the duo will be another Saturday of racing at Knoxville Raceway this weekend.

With some of the bigger  events on the schedule approaching quickly, Henderson is hopeful the team can turn a corner and get back to their consistency and winning ways.

“We’d like to maybe be doing some racing at other tracks with the Outlaws, but Knoxville holds the most importance to us right now as we are focused on the Knoxville Nationals coming up soon,” said Henderson. “We got our good car back that we crashed a few weeks back and we’re close to getting this new one dialed in.

“In racing you can’t live off one car and one package, so while we know the old Maxim is good and fast, we’ve got to get this one right if we want to be a complete and successful program. So, I’m looking forward to getting back to Knoxville and getting ourselves ready to take a shot at a crown jewel in the Nationals later this season.”

WEEKEND RESULTS 

July 2 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 18; Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 12 (13).

SEASON STATS

23 races, 0 wins, 7 top 5s, 11 top 10s, 15 top 15S, 15 top 20S

UP NEXT

Saturday, July 9th, at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Maxim Racing Inc.

Maxim Racing Inc is home to one of the biggest and most successful manufacturers of Sprint Car Chassis in the entire country. In business since 1988, Maxim is located in Springfield, Illinois. They offer customers unmatched support and service and pledge to provide the best sprint car chassis and components with the highest levels of quality and customer service. For more information visit https://www.racemaxims.com/

“Maxim Racing Inc. provides not only reliable equipment, but safe equipment as well for our race team,” said Mike Sandvig. “We’ve been blessed with great results and multiple wins over the years and it’s because of partners like Maxim Racing Inc. that we can do that.”

Sandvig would also like to thank Powersports.com, Morton Buildings, GRP Motorsports, Eszlinger Electric, Heartland Kitchen Solutions, 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.