Finishing 18th doesn’t show the whole story of Jimmy Lane’s ASA Late Model Challenge adventure at Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA. It was a day filled with ups and downs, ending with heartbreak. After running in the top five most of the event, the Bluffton, SC driver ended up running out of gas in the final segment, dropping him to 18th at the finish.
“We had a great run going tonight,” said Lang. “This is hard to take after having won three in a row down South. We got some momentum to work off of going into our next race.”
The day started with Lang crashing his primary car after running over a tape measure that was on the racing surface. Despite having to roll out a back-up car, Lang was one of eight drivers to break the track record in the following practice session.
A disappointing run in qualifying left them 18th on the starting grid, he didn’t stay there for long once the race went green. The race was split up into three segments and when the checkered flag flew after 50 laps, Lang had moved past 13 other drivers to finish 5th.
In the second segment, Lang moved up as high as third and looked to be in the driver’s seat to add a ASA Late Model Challenge win to his resume after three-straight South Division wins. The car got loose and he fell back to fifth again. The final segment was going well until he hit pit road with no gas left in the tank. This spoiled Lang’s run, leaving right where he started, 18th.
Lang will have a few weeks to re-group, his next ASA Challenge event will be on June 14th at Berlin Raceway in Marne, MI.
