Pleasantly Surprised

Going into this weekend we were already planning the days after it as we gear up to take the Chris Hile 5H to Eldora Speedway. But sometimes when you overlook something you can be quite surprised and that's exactly what we got!
​
This weekend was shaping up to be perfect for racing action both Friday night at the Brewerton Speedway and Saturday night at the Fulton Speedway. With 2 weeks since new clay was laid down at Brewerton we came into Friday with hopes of a smooth track knowing that new clay can rough a place up until it has fully cured. Unfortunately we didn't get the typical Brewerton smooth track but we really have to hand it to the track crew who were able to keep the track as smooth as possible given the circumstances.

Going into the night Chris and the 5H sat in 6th in the season point standings and at halfway through the season we are all pretty excited to see where the second half of the season will lead us. Given the new track conditions we knew all drivers were going to be chasing setups. Chris was able to battle through attrition and hold onto 8th place propelling him to 4th in the overall point standings.

Going into Saturday night at Fulton Speedway we all joked that the 25H was due for a hat trick after breaking in hot laps the past 2 weeks. Fortunately Katelyn was able get that monkey off her back and completed hot laps without any misfortune. After the heats both Hile Motorsports cars were questioning what setups they would ultimately want for the feature as track conditions were a little different than normal. Both Chris and Katelyn decided on slightly different feature setups. Katelyn and the 25H would start on the pole and Chris and his 5H would go away midpack. At the halfway point of the feature the 25H was still holding strong in 3rd. With 5 to go after getting stuck behind a lap car Katelyn was still showing a strong run in 4th and would ultimately lose 4th on the last lap finishing a Modified career-best 5th. Chris and the 5H would end up 12th.

As I said before sometimes when you overlook something you can be surprised. If you had asked me after the heat where I would've predicted the 25H to finish I would've said that I'd be lucky to stay with the pack. Never did I think my career best finish would come this weekend!

Although we are leaving my 25H home this week as we take the 5H west to Eldora, I am not too upset as it gives me more time to enjoy this career milestone! Here's to hoping we can see more top 5's in the near future!
​
​Stay tuned to #HileMotorsports social media to see how Chris and the 5H do at the Eldora Speedway!