This weekend was definitely one where I had to remind myself to have a short-term memory. They say you take one step back to take two steps forward, and I know a lot of growth comes from weekends like this.

We started strong. I was P2 and P3 in practice, best from the MKM team, and ended up qualifying P6. It was my best qualifying effort so far, but I wasn’t fully satisfied. I felt like there were another couple tenths in the car. That’s the art of qualifying that I’m still learning to master—only having two laps to make it happen right from the drop of the green.

In the first 40-lap race, I didn’t capitalize on the start and dropped a position, but was able to fight back and make the pass in the closing laps. It stayed green the whole time, so it went by quick.

The second race was more challenging. I struggled on restarts and put myself in a few situations that got pretty tight, which led to some contact and damage. I need to do a better job managing those moments and keeping the car in cleaner track position. At the same time, there were a couple situations where there wasn’t much I could have done to avoid the contact. Not ideal, especially after a solid first race, but there’s a lot there for me to build on.

It felt like a step backwards, but at the end of the day, I learned a lot—probably even more than I did from the first race.

Progress isn’t always linear, and I know I’m still adapting. Coming from road course racing, there’s a lot to adjust to. There are definitely similarities, but it’s the small differences in oval racing that really make the impact.

Next race is in two weeks. Time to go to work and come back better.

May 2, 2026

Hickory motor speedway - Race #2

Hickory motor speedway - 1st late model race