Kellen Drives To 8th Out Of 273 In IMCA Super Nationals

Kellen straps into the car right before the Big Dance at the 2010 IMCA Super Nationals.
Car owner Jason Snyder stands by ready to assist with any last minute needs.
Kellen thanks Jason for the opportunity to race his car and wishes him the best of luck in his upcoming racing.

 

Kellen Chadwick and his crew made the journey to Boone, Iowa over the past week to compete in the 28th annual IMCA Super Nationals. Kellen arrived in Boone on Tuesday and took the car out for a few hot laps. Kellen felt good racing a Rage Chassis for the first time. "It felt good," he said following his hot laps.

The racing action got under way on Wednesday, with qualifying day #1 for Saturday's feature. Kellen drew a poor starting spot in one of the late heat races. Kellen charged up towards the front of his heat. As Kellen was racing, he noticed that his oil pressure light had been coming on but early in the race, it went off. As he was coming to the white flag, the oil light stayed on. As the leaders in front of him were banging into each other, Kellen exited turn 2 of the final lap and pulled his car to the infield. "I didn't want to take a chance with damaging the engine," he said afterwards. Unfortunately, both of the front 2 cars were going to be penalized after the race and Kellen would have earned a spot in the night's A Main, where the top 8 would advance to Saturday's big dance.

Kellen came back on Thursday and again had a tough draw for his heat race, where he would start 5th in the 8 car heat. Kellen made his charge towards the front but ended up in second. With only the winner moving on to Thursday's A, Kellen would have to settle for running a B Main. The B Main would only give him a chance to earn points for the 4 day event. Kellen was able to run 2nd in his B Main out of 20 cars.

Through two days of racing, Kellen was extremely pleased with the unfamiliar car. "The car is good, I just need some luck with my drawing." On Friday, Kellen said that he was not going to go in for the draw for heat race starting spots. Car owner Jason Snyder took in his entry for the drawing. The change worked. Kellen drew the pole for his heat race that night. Kellen would start along fellow California driver, Brad Pounds.

Early in the heat race, Kellen and Pounds exchanged slide jobs for the lead before Kellen took command. Surviving a late race caution, Kellen took home the heat race win. The win earned him a spot in the 30 car A Main, where he would have to draw again for a starting spot. Kellen drew an 8th starting spot and the top 8 finishers would automatically earn a spot in Saturyday's "Big Dance."

Kellen started the 20 lap feature on Friday night and early on was trying to be patient and let things sort out. He had faded back to 11th but Kellen was getting ready to make his charge. He picked off one car, then another. When a late race caution flag flew, Kellen had worked his way up to 7th but would have to survive the restart and protect his spot. "I knew I had the spot the guys behind me wanted, so I went all out." Kellen was able to charge all the way to third. He crossed the finish line with Iowan driver and friend, Cale Sponsler. Kellen had just edged Cale for third and earned the outside of row 3 of the 3-wide field start of the Saturday finale.

On Saturday, Kellen would start the race in 9th. With a 3 wide start, Kellen had said he would be patient early in the 40 lapper. Early in the race, Kellen slide back to 12th but was pacing himself and saving his car for later in the race. After the start of the race, the laps began to click off, one-by-one. Kellen tried to charge towards the front but found the track extremely difficult to pass. He could drive under a car but that car could block his move and maintain the faster groove. Kellen was able to get by a couple of cars as the field had strung out into a single file line. With only 1 caution slowing the race, Kellen was able to charge to an 8th place finish.

Only 33 cars out of the 273 that were there made the A Main. Kellen not only made it, but he finished 8th out of the 33. Kellen was pleased with his efforts. He drove a car he had never seen and made some small adjustments to it all week to get the most out of it he could. Kellen also had the chance to meet some great people and make new friends. It was a successful trip. He had no damage to Jason's car and returned it to him in the same condition it was given to him (although with a few more decals as required by all A Main starters).

Kellen wants to express his heartfelt thanks to Jason Snyder, OHB, Justin O'Brien, Darin Duffy, JD Auringer, Andy & Jessica Miller and the rest of the Rage Chassis and Karsyn's Krusaders crew, family and friends. They were all extremely accomodating and Kellen appreciates all of their efforts over the week.

Kellen offers his congratulations to Brett Meyers on his win in the SportMod feature! Great job Brett!