Kody Hartlaub Bounces Back Saturday at Lincoln After Costly Mistake Friday at Williams Grove

Hartlaub was among a field of 28 drivers set to do battle Friday night, September 1st at Williams Grove Speedway.  The heat lineups were set using a handicapping system, which put point leader Hartlaub outside the fourth row.  That improved to outside row three when two lesser experienced drivers opted to start at the rear of the field.

By the time one lap was complete, Hartlaub was already 4th and poised for more when the caution appeared.  On the ensuing restart, he dove into turn one but the hole he thought he saw closed quickly.

With little time to adjust, Hartlaub spun and was collected another car.  He pushed off and restarted at the back of the pack, but the car was wounded.  He managed to finish 6th to transfer into the A-main in the J Fuels, Brewer Home Improvements, Moose Blocks, Smith Titanium, SRR Engines, Siegel Racing, T&N Solutions, Inch & Co. Real Estate, Bigham Appraisals, Pretzel Boy, HAAS Shocks, Chop Designs, Herr Electric, Hartlaub’s Furniture, Kody Hartlaub Racing No.95.

There was significant damage to the front suspension but with help from Steve Owings, Doug Hammaker and others, the team patched the car back together to put Hartlaub on track for the feature.

Hartlaub’s car wasn’t its competitive self though and the East Berlin, PA driver just survived to salvage a 19th place finish.

“I made a mistake and paid for it.“, Hartlaub said of the misjudged passing attempt in the heat race.  “I owe a big thanks to Steve Owings, Doug Hammaker and everyone else that came down to help us salvage what we could in the feature.“

Upon returning to the shop late Friday night, the team spent several hours swapping their 358 motor into their 410 sprint car so they could race at Lincoln Saturday night.