Tony Jackson Captures Second Wingless Victory of the Season at Port Royal Speedway

Tony Jackson and Scott Hess Racing added another trophy to the case this past weekend, as Jackson piloted the No. 88 machine to his second Wingless Sportsman victory of the season Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.

The team’s weekend plans initially called for a doubleheader, but Friday’s Winged Sportsman event at Linda’s Speedway was canceled due to impending weather. That left all the focus on Port Royal—and Jackson delivered in a big way.

“We wanted to do Linda’s, but it just wasn’t in the cards for Mother Nature to cooperate,” said Jackson. “But Port Royal more than made up for the rainy Friday and we’re just excited to be running this good early in the season.”

Jackson kicked off the night by charging from fifth to second in his heat race, earning him the fourth starting spot for the A-main event. He quickly moved into a podium position in the early laps and by lap five had powered into second. Jackson then stalked the leader for more than 10 circuits, patiently waiting for his opportunity.

That opportunity came with five laps to go, as Jackson used a strong outside move through turns three and four to wrestle away the top spot. He led the remainder of the race, securing his second career Port Royal Speedway victory and his 48th career triumph in the Sportsman division.

With car counts lower for the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars, Jackson and Hess also took advantage of the opportunity to run with the wingless 360 Sprint Cars for the night. He finished seventh in a heat race and 18th in the A-main. The ability to get the extra laps on track is something Jackson said paid dividends not only financially, but set up wise as well.

“Honestly, we credit a lot of us winning that race in being able to run with the USAC East Coast guys for the night,” he said. “We got some valuable track time and made a few extra dollars. But overall we found a few things out and had the car better prepared for our feature and obviously it paid off as we found victory lane.”

Next up for Jackson and Scott Hess Racing is another busy weekend, as the team is slated to compete in Winged Sportsman action Friday at Bedford Speedway before removing the wing again for Saturday’s event at Path Valley Speedway Park. Jackson hopes to keep the recent hot streak alive and continue his run of front-running performances.

As an added bonus, Tony is slated to appear on a Middleswarth pre-race radio show prior to Friday’s action at Bedford Speedway, which will be simulcast via 103.1 FM and can be listened to via radio in the surrounding areas of the track and the Bedford Speedway loudspeaker 30 minutes prior to the night’s warmups.

“Bedford is a place I’ve only ran there a handful of times, but I’ve never lost in wingless competition there. Hopefully that success and knowledge can roll over to the winged Sportsman,” he said. “We’re only two away from 50 wins and honestly as good as we are running, I think we have a chance to achieve that goal in one weekend. I’m excited to get back to the track and keep having fun.”

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