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Justin Henderson scored a disappointing 23rd-place finish at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday night after a mechanical issue ended what appeared to be  a promising night behind the wheel of the Mike Sandvig Motorsports No 7 410 Sprint Car.

“Luckily I saved the car from getting into the wall, but overall, a tough night for our team,” said Henderson. “Sometimes I feel like we’d have no luck at all if not for bad luck. So overall it’s not much to write about.”

Henderson began the evening by timing in 5th quickest out of 32 cars in attendance with a fastest lap of 15.837 seconds during qualifying. He then advanced one position in a heat race to finish fourth and secured a spot in the night’s feature event.

“Qualifying well makes  everything easier and it seems we turned the corner there,” said Henderson. “We were not great in the heat race and just managed to hold on to get her in the show, so we’re still working on that part of things.”

Following a fortunate re-draw, Henderson lined up from the 5th starting position for the feature. However, his night practically ended before it ever started when he came to a stop against the outside guardrail on lap two with a broken tie-rod bolt. As a result, he was  credited with finishing in the 23rd position.

“We didn’t really start too well, so there’s not much we can take from that experience,” he said. “I’d have liked to maybe learn a few things from the changes we made, but that’s the way things go sometimes.”

While the finish was frustrating, Henderson was able to find encouragement in the early speed the car had on track.

“We turned the corner a little bit and we’re kind of trial and error until we get it right,” he said. “I feel like we’re getting back on track as a team, and we had some speed. So, we’ll just take the positives we can from it and just keep moving forward.”

Next up for the duo will be another Saturday of racing at Knoxville Raceway, followed by a return to Huset’s Speedway on Sunday. 

Henderson currently sits on top of the point standings at Huset’s, where he holds a 12-point advantage in search of his second consecutive track championship at the Brandon, S.D Speedway.

“We’re leading the points at Huset’s and It’s always a good time when you enter as the points leader, ” said Henderson. “The crazy thing is that I don’t know that we have really scratched the surface in how good we are as a team this season yet.

“We’re really grinding away at this deal and we’re working hard to be ready come Nationals time. I feel like the best is yet to come for this team and I’m looking forward to clicking off a few wins hopefully in the near future.”

WEEKEND RESULTS

July 9 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 4 (5); Feature: 23 (5).

SEASON STATS

24 races, 0 wins, 7 top 5’s, 11 top 10’s, 15 top 15’s, 15 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.

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.