The Dome at America's Center
Gateway top-five caps Rasdon's solid season
By Alli Collis
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
Hunter Rasdon (R5) battles for fourth. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Dec. 17) — Hunter Rasdon found himself smack dab in in the middle of a history Saturday night.
The Jonesboro, Ark., driver deemed the VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals finale as one of the most exciting races he’s ever been part of. With thousands of fans watching under the bright lights of The Dome at America’s Center, Rasdon was among the 22 starters for the inaugural $20,000-to-win event, part of the first indoor Dirt Late Model weekend of racing in 34 years. | Complete Gateway coverage
Winning the evening’s second consolation to lineup outside the fifth row, Rasdon worked his way to the front of the field, running as high as fourth as veterans Scott Bloomquist and Don O’Neal battled ahead of him. A late-race caution slowing his run, the Arkansas driver eventually crossed the checkers in fifth, but he wasn’t hanging his head over losing a spot in the race won by Bloomquist.
“There on that last caution when Scott (Bloomquist) and (Don) O’Neal was kind of getting in lapped traffic, I kind of thought I might have a shot at it there for a minute,” Rasdon said. “I was good around the bottom and they where just kind of running up through the middle and the top. I was steadily closing ground on them, but I’m definitely proud of our fifth-place finish.”
A top-five run in Saturday’s indoor event was just another notch in Rasdon’s solid 2016 season. The former modified standout closed the year with five victories on the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series, coming up just a few points shy of his first tour championship.
“We started out running it and I think we won five,” Rasdon said. “We came up a little bit short there at the end, just kind of had a bad last night. But it was still a really good season.”
Picking up a pair of Comp Cams victories in 2015, this marked Rasdon’s first year chasing the series title full-time. With limited time behind the wheel of a Late Model, he thought following a regional tour might be the best way to gain experience in the full-fender car.
“It’s based out of Little Rock and we’re from Arkansas, so it was pretty regional for us,” Rasdon said. “I felt like it would be a really good kind of groundbreaker for the Late Model stuff and would give us a little experience on touring and going to different tracks. Chris Ellis, he runs a real good deal, so that’s what made us do it.”
After grabbing back-to-back July victories at Greenville (Miss.) Speedway and Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Miss., then adding another Greenville victory on Labor Day weekend, Rasdon entered the Comp Cams season finale with the points lead. But things unraveled the final series weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., leaving him three points shy of the title as Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, Ark., took the championship for the second straight season.
“We went in to that last night there and I was like 37 points ahead,” Rasdon said. “Honestly we just had probably the worst night you could ever imagine. I think I ended up losing it by three points. But me, Jack and Kyle (Beard), we pretty much battled all year. We were always right there amongst each other in the finishes.”
Rasdon and team aren’t giving up. Coming up short has left them motivated and considering another run for a regional series championship in 2017.
“It was a tough way to lose one,” Rasdon said. “But the Brown Brothers and us, we’ve got a real good team here. We’re trying to grow, we’re trying to do bigger and better things. We might look at running a little tougher regional deal next year.”
Rasdon’s hoping to carry the momentum from Saturday’s Gateway finish in to next season. While he’s qualified for some of the sport’s major events in the past, including the Lucas Oil Series-sanctioned Topless 100 at Batesville (Ark.) Motor Speedway, this marked his best run against national competition.
“We run with them a little bit throughout the year,” Rasdon said. “That was the best finish I’ve had against that competition. The way racing is now it’s kind of a short winter. We’ve got our heads up and are looking forward to next year.”
