by Joanne Mady
So young yet so old. Nate Brinker showed the nerves of a veteran on a night he will not forget. The 13 year
old young gun held off the best of the best for the first FXG Sign & Label 100 lap race and to win his first
Xcel Chassis 600 modified tour race. It was a $1000 payday to round off the night at Shippensburg
Speedway on July 12th.
No one knew what to expect or could guess how the night would go. The two biggest questions of the night
were tires and brakes. Fuel was not an issue but would your brakes run hot or the tires run bald. Nate
summed up some of the race during tech. "After the redraw, my dad and I were talking set up and decided
to go with our normal set up. Even though it was a 100 laps, the biggest thing would be patience. At the end
of the race, my arms felt like they had grown 2 feet running 75 green flag laps but picking up that $1000
envelope sure did help. I'm glad to have my grandmother and grandfather here and Dectis Painting for the
sponsorship. Man I was so happy to see the smile my dad had running down here"
On the final restart with 5 laps to go had the fans on their feet. Could this 13 year old keep the "old timers"
at bay? That question was quickly answered when Nate pulled away with a text book start that left
Dunkleberger and Pepe fighting for second place. Pepe gave everything the car had and tried the outside
but to no avail bringing home a third place finish.
Heat winners Brinker, Jason Dunkleberger and Aaron Bowes
set the pace for the night with Brinker and Dunkleberger on
the front row. Patience would be the last word on the radio
before the green dropped.
"This is so cool. I can't believe it happened. I knew the car
could do it but I had to keep telling myself to hit my marks.
Those last five laps were the best and worst all at the same
time. Your heart's going a mile a minute and I just had to
keep doing what I had been doing. "stated Brinker" The first
run was a blast running with Dustin and the second green
flag run I ran the car hard. I prayed I didn't use up the tires
for the last five laps and I still don't know but I will look at
them when the car goes thru tech.“
“ Those last five laps were
the best and worst all at
the same time. Your heart's
going a mile a minute and I
just had to keep doing
what I had been doing.”
FEATURE FINISH (100 LAPS)
1)NATE BRINKER 2)Josh Pepe 3)Aaron Bowes 4)Ian
Williamson 5)Michael Burrows 6)Jonathan Josko 7)Scott
Washburn 8)Dustin Dunkleberger 9)Shawna Schibilia
10)Charles Bowers 11)Jonathan Pepe 12)Ray Horning
13)Jordyn Mohr 14)Tim VanHorn Jr. 15)Chad Zornek
16)(Ryan Mohr 17)Brad Smith 18)Abbey Price 19)Richie
Hitzler 20)Jason Dunkleberger 21)Rich Savage
August 2014 ~ 23