TELFORD, PA. – June 4, 2014 – Certain areas present more of a challenge for the stars and cars of the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. The Pennsylvania Posse in the Keystone state, Knoxville Raceway regulars at the track known as the “Sprint Car Capital of the World,” and more give the ‘Greatest Show on Dirt,’ a run for their money each time the series invades their territory. One such region is the Buckeye State of Ohio.
Paul McMahan knows how difficult they can be.
“This was a challenging swing for us,” said driver of the #51 Bairs Tree Service/Nyce Crete & Landis Block & Concrete/All Star Performance sprinter. “There were a few times where we could have gotten ourselves into trouble but we salvaged some good finishes. The local competition up’s the ante for us travelers.”
With the coast-to-coast tour heading to Northern Ohio for a stop at Attica (OH) Raceway Park for the Kistler Engines Classic, McMahan and his CJB team were confident that they would stack up against the strong local competition.
“The track was still good late in qualifying and I just cut a bad lap,” said the California native. “It happens from time to time so we just had to battle back. We charged from 22nd to 8th in the feature so that was the silver lining on the night.”
With disaster averted at Attica, the #51 hauler rolled 220 miles northwest for the NAPA Auto parts Rumble at I-96 Speedway near Lake Odessa, Mich.
“We went back to the smaller configuration at I-96,” said McMahan. “We won there last year and had a pretty good car there again but Donny Schatz was just in a class by himself. We ended up fifth, which was a nice way to finish off the weekend. We were lucky to make the dash as we won our heat race. That was the key. “
As May turns into June, the racing calendar begins to populate with races at some of McMahan’s favorite tracks. The Outlaws will visit Kokomo Speedway on Wednesday, June 4 before heading to the Heartland of America for a weekend two-step in Nebraska and Kansas.
“Kokomo is one of my all time favorite tracks,” said McMahan. “It’s a handful and produces great racing. I haven’t been to I-80 in about ten years but it always produces some great racing, no matter who runs there. Lakeside is really dependent on the weather. How much sun and moisture plays into the racing surface so much there that we won’t know what we have to work with until we get there. It’s a three race swing with a lot of challenges.”
CJB MOTORSPORTS 2014 STATS:
Starts: 32
Quick Times: 6
Wins: 2
Top-5’s: 19
Top-10’s: 30
Average Time Trial: 5.4
Average A-main finish: 6.3
UP NEXT: McMahan and the CJB crew tackle Kokomo Speedway on Wednesday, June 4 before heading to I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska on Friday, June 6 and Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas on Saturday, June 7.
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