{"id":21245,"date":"2021-03-29T08:50:30","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T12:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maineracing.com\/wp\/?p=21245"},"modified":"2021-03-29T08:50:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T12:50:33","slug":"heath-posts-respectable-finishes-in-waco-paige","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/2021\/03\/heath-posts-respectable-finishes-in-waco-paige\/","title":{"rendered":"Heath posts respectable finishes in Waco, Paige"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Heath posts respectable finishes in Waco, Paige<br><\/strong>Texas Two-Step serves to enhance learning<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LAMESA, Texas (March 28, 2021) \u2014 With temperatures going up and race season in full swing throughout the deep south, it&#8217;s starting to feel a lot like summer for one Maine native now racing in Texas and Oklahoma.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chad Heath continued his busy string of short track races, posting respectable finishes at the Heart O&#8217; Texas Speedway (Elm Mott) and Cotton Bowl Speedway (Paige) over the weekend. Friday he started eighth and drove to a 16th-place finish at HoT and capped the weekend with an 8th-place run at CBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI found Heart O&#8217; Texas to be a fast, slick and challenging track,\u201d Heath said. \u201cWith the Late Models there, it got slick earlier than normal. I struggled in my heat and tried to get ready for the B Main. As we rolled out onto the track for that, they called us back in and told us we all had made the A Main.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That decision by officials prevented Heath from risking damage to his car before the feature. It offered a chance to adjust and prepare for the A Main, a race Heath knew would be intense.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe competition in Southern Sport Mods at Heart O&#8217; Texas is some of the most intense in the entire state,\u201d Heath said. \u201cI figured it was a good chance to see how I measure up against those guys, to see if I could run with them. I had some scary moments, but we earned points and didn&#8217;t wreck the car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Saturday, it was off to the friendly confines of Cotton Bowl, where promoter Mary Ann Naumann and her staff were hosting Round 2 of their 2021 scheduled points races. The No. 09k Wicked Race Cars-built entry of Heath was fast in qualifying, with a third-place finish in his Heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cConditions were a lot more like the day I tested there a month or so ago,\u201d Heath explained. \u201cThe car handled more like I expected it to this time. I got hung up in traffic a while early in the feature, but once I got free I could begin to make some headway. I just love Cotton Bowl, there&#8217;s room to race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heath&#8217;s goal of going after IMCA Southern Sport Mod Rookie-of-the-Year honors this year will take a huge effort. Lots of travel, lots of busy Friday and Saturday nights, but also a ton of learning. As a man who keeps critical generators running for a living, this type of challenge is an ideal pastime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI love to learn, I love racing and this year I&#8217;m getting to compete at some great tracks here in Texas,\u201d he added. \u201cHeart O&#8217; Texas is a fast little bullring, a lot like Thunder Road Speedbowl up in Vermont. It may be dirt instead of asphalt, but you need to be up on the wheel every lap. It&#8217;s an absolute blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd Cotton Bowl is a driver&#8217;s track, with long straightaways that let you stretch your legs. It takes big power and a good chassis setup to be successful there. If I can learn to run near the front there, I will be doing a big stroke of business. These Sport Mod guys down here are good, and they don&#8217;t budge at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To follow Chad&#8217;s progress throughout the season, go to&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chadheath09k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.facebook.com\/chadheath09k<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heath posts respectable finishes in Waco, PaigeTexas Two-Step serves to enhance learning LAMESA, Texas (March 28, 2021) \u2014 With temperatures going up and race season in full swing throughout the deep south, it&#8217;s starting to feel a lot like summer for one Maine native now racing in Texas and Oklahoma.&nbsp; Chad Heath continued his busy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-maine-racing-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21246,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21245\/revisions\/21246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}