LUCAMA, NC – Cody Kelley is hoping to build on his third place finish heading into the third straight night of racing at Southern National Motorsports Park on Friday.
Kelley’s third place finish on Thursday boosted confidence for his AK Performance team with two races remaining for the Ultra Racing Association (URA) Late Model Stock Car division. He feels like he has a good handle on the track but is looking for just a little more on the long runs.
“I feel like I’m getting around here pretty good,” Kelley said after Thursday’s 50-lap race. “I’m just struggling on drive a little bit later in the run. Kendall [Sellers] and the AK Performance guys worked on it last night and this morning. We got it running a little bit better, but we’re definitely searching for me. The long run [Wednesday] kind of hurt me. Still finished seventh, and third tonight, so I’m really proud of all the guys.”
This is the second consecutive year Southern National Motorsports Park has hosted its March Speed Week, which consists of five nights of racing including a stretch of four consecutive nights. The unorthodox concept has received praise from racers across multiple disciplines, and Kelley is one of those racers.
So far, the URA Late Models have run caution free through two nights and 175 laps of racing, and Kelley hopes the trend continues.
“This is a cool thing that [Michael] Diaz and his staff are putting together here, racing all week,” Kelley stated. “Everybody here has been racing very respectful. It’s been really fun. Knock on wood, hopefully it doesn’t turn into something else the next couple nights. It’s been fun, the guys have been very respectful, the track’s really nice, and I’m glad we came.”
Over the past two nights of racing, the Late Models are not the only division that has run without incident. Between the Bandolero and Legend Car divisions, only one caution has come out – a single car spin in the opening laps of Thursday night’s Legends feature.
The action ramps up on Friday night with six divisions in action. Chargers, Mini Stocks, and Any Cars (which are known as Bombers are other nearby Eastern Carolina tracks) will be racing along with the URA Late Models and INEX Legends and Bandoleros divisions. The green flag on Friday will fly at 9:00pm.
Speed Week concludes on Saturday with the same six divisions in action, with the green flag waving at 3:00pm.
