Racing & Wrenching Throughout September for Meade Hahn

As the race season entered the final month of competition, Meade Hahn and his late model team were hoping to finish out the season on a positive note, as the team had experienced several challenges.

The team would start off September at Selinsgrove.  The event would feature time trials to start, where Meade would slot in 9th overall. He would then roll off 5th in his heat.

“On the first lap of the heat, the guy on the outside and I got together on the front stretch slightly, but it was enough to smash the wheel cover in and cut the valve stem on the right front, giving us a flat. So we didn’t really know much about the track and if it was still fast or had slowed down any. I knew I would start behind the better cars, and I gambled on tires going softer than I normally would have.”

This gamble would initially pay off, but started to hinder the driver as the race went on.

“It worked for a few laps, and the right rear was just giving up more and more. We also were getting tighter in the middle, and I wasn’t sure what was really going on. I just was thinking it was all the tires giving up, but once I got home and washed up I found the j-bar had moved down and was coming loose.”

Some unfortunate trouble that would limit the 7-car and result in an 11th-place finish, after starting 13th.

“We had speed this weekend more than I have had in time trials, so I’m happy with that.” 

The team would then travel over to the Port Royal Speedway for the final race of the limited season there. This would be an invite-only event for the top 24 in track points. Hahn would draw a front-row starting spot for his heat and jump to the early lead. A pileup behind him, however, negated that move. The heat would restart with only 3 cars. Meade would finish 3rd in the heat, but he mentioned that the car felt good.

“We started 6th for the feature and took off well, and again I was happy with how the car was handling. We got into 5th, and I was able to run with 4th and was moving around a little trying to make a pass, when I felt the motor start to lay down on me and I had to pull off the track because of it. We came home 9th, but we were so much better than that. We definitely had a top 5 car and were just disappointed we didn’t get the result we had the speed for.”

This would have been the best finish of the season for Hahn, but it wasn’t meant to be. 

Once the team got the car back to the shop to inspect the engine, Meade found the problem.

“We had an intake valve problem on one cylinder. So we took the motor out and sent it to the machine shop.”

The team would then look towards their final scheduled race of the year at Selinsgrove, but Mother Nature had other plans. 

“We weren’t sure if we would have it back in time to race Saturday night at Selinsgrove for the final points race. So the Garmans offered us one of their motors. We really wanted to finish the year out since we have had speed and decided we would take them up on their offer. We worked all week picking up the motor and getting it in the car, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans, and Selinsgrove rained out.” 

Even though the race season might have been over for Hahn in a driving sense, he still had some other plans come up that allowed the car to be on track.

“After it rained out, Derrick and I talked, and he said, ‘Why don’t you run Path Valley on Saturday night.’ I told him I didn’t have gears and a way to get my car there, so why don’t we let Jaxton drive it and you tow my trailer and use your gears. Jaxton came over, and we got him fitted in the seat as best we could and loaded up for Path Valley.”

Hahn had never had his car to the tight ¼ mile track before.  Meade and the Garmans would make little adjustments all night to help Jaxton out.

“After the warm-ups, we needed to make a few more tweaks to get him a little more comfortable. He couldn’t reach the gas pedal correctly and was having trouble getting it wide open. So we adjusted the throttle arm and sent him out for the heat race, which he ended up winning.”

Redrawing in the 7th spot for the feature, they would have to keep the nose clean if they wanted to move forward and also finish.

“He fell back a little trying to be cautious, knowing a couple of cars were looking like they were going to wreck, which ultimately they did, and he missed all the cars. He would restart 8th and ultimately come home in that position. I was happy with how the night went. We brought home a solid finish and had great speed early in the night. With never having Jaxton in the car, or the car to that track, we just didn’t know what to change, and ultimately we didn’t do enough for him. He drove a good race, moved around, and the car just wouldn’t come off the corner like we needed it to. Now we know for next time what not to do and more of what we need to do.” 

This was a different perspective of a race night from what Hahn was used to, in almost a car owner type role.

“It was a little weird watching the car, but it did give me some more insight into what the car needs and wants even if I’m not the one driving it.”

Those lessons will hopefully benefit Meade as he makes preparations for the next season. Meade added that he’d “like to thank Derrick for letting us use his motor and Jaxton for driving it to a solid finish and overall a good night.” 

Meade also noted that Phil Miller got the 7’s power plant back together and ready to go.

“He was able to get our motor fixed up with some new parts, and we will see what we can do with our own motor again next year. Luckily for us, it wasn’t a bad fix and didn’t take too many parts.” 

As the 7-car season came to a close, it was certainly a year with many trials and challenges. Bright spots still shone through at times, with good runs and solid speed on a lot of their appearances in 2026. Hahn would end the season with 5 top-ten finishes in 14 shows behind the wheel. The biggest thing Meade will hope for in 2027 is a shift in luck.

“This year has been really frustrating with dumb luck, or whatever you want to say. It just seems like I can’t put a whole night together. Something seems to happen at some point and gets us behind.”

The team looks to put in some work over the offseason to get prepared for 2027 and hopefully minimize the misfortune. Meade would again like to thank everyone involved in the operation for all their help and support during this race season and looks forward to better things in 2027.