Pictou’s King Racing preps for Scotia Speedworld
Cory Hall will be flag-hunting on Saturday for the Cummins 150 at Scotia Speedworld, when he climbs into a King Racing car for just the second time.
“Anytime you strap in a race car, you want the checkered flag,” says the 19-year-old native of Sackville, N.B., who placed seventh at the Lucas Oil 150 last Saturday in New Brunswick.
“Preparing for a race, I try to make sure I’m the best I can be and (crew chief Andrew Hickens) is great with the car. It makes it a lot easier for a driver when you know the car is 110 per cent.”
His debut with the Pictou-based King Racing was a solid one; Hall won a heat race and ultimately ended up starting from the third position. He managed to get into second place, but had a flat tire and needed a pit stop. Later, he was forced to pit again to make adjustments to the tire.
“We had to come from the rear twice,” said Hickens, who started with King Racing eight years ago. “There were a lot of wrecks and stuff, so we ended up seventh, which was good, considering all the adversity.”
Hickens said Hall is currently expected to race for King “four or five times” this season, while Cassius Clarke will be behind the wheel for another dozen races.
Hall has been driving Legends cars for three years and admits that moving up to the Pro Stock Tour is a tougher test. Not only does the size of Pro Stock cars (compared to the smaller Legends cars) make it more difficult for a driver to share space on the track with other drivers, but “Legend is a good learning tool (but) the competition level is much higher,” in Pro Stock, Hall says.
“It’s definitely a challenge and I’m enjoying it.”
When he got the chance to compete for King Racing owner and hall-of-fame driver Rollie MacDonald, “everyone was saying ‘Rollie MacDonald is a legend, look at everything he’s done in racing.’ To get this kind of opportunity, it’s crazy. It’s a dream come true.”
The Cummins 150 is the second of 12 in the elite stock car series that will visit four Maritime markets throughout the season.
Heat Races get underway at 4 p.m. with grandstand gates opening at 1 p.m.
Notes
• Little Harbour’s George Koszkulics will race his #88 car at Scotia Speedworld.
• The Rookie of the Year battle kicked off last weekend with Hall earning Rookie of the Race and a spot just outside the top five in the points standings.
• The Maritime League of Legends will kick off their 2018 campaign with a 50-lap feature prior to the Pro Stock feature on Saturday.
• Admission for Saturday’s Cummins 150 is $25 for adults; $8 for youth (8-15 years); pit admission is $30. Weekend passes are available, adults weekend passes are $35 for grandstands, $40 for pits. Children seven and under are admitted free all season at Scotia Speedworld.
• Tickets will be available at the gates on race day (cash only).