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(Photo by SprintFun Photos)

Inside Line Promotions – PORT ROYAL, Pa. (May 31, 2017) – Trey Starks nearly captured the biggest win of his career on Monday during the Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway.

The Gobrecht Motorsports driver led all but the final handful of laps at the half-mile oval, where he earned a career-best runner-up result during the prestigious event.

The doubleheader, which was spread throughout three days thanks to Mother Nature, began on Saturday when Starks qualified 10th quickest. He then won a heat race after starting on the outside of the front row to earn enough points to advance into the dash.

“It’s really important to do well the first half of the night,” he said. “You can’t expect to win or finish toward the front unless you start up there. We got to be in the dash and the way the invert worked out we started on the front row of the dash.”

Starks finished where he started – second – in the dash to line up on the outside of the front row for the main event.

“We got a really good start and grabbed the lead early,” he said. “Port Royal is one of the raciest tracks I’ve been on. I’ve never seen it be one lane. It also has a tendency to change lanes throughout the race. I was doing my best to search around to find the fast lane, but Dale (Blaney) and some other quick drivers knew where to go. We ended up fading to fourth, but we were still really competitive. We learned a lot and found out a lot about what the race car liked.”

Starks held on for a fourth-place finish, which was his best result at the track until Monday’s showing.

The event was scheduled to conclude on Sunday, when Starks timed in eighth quickest before finishing second in a heat race. However, rain postponed the remainder of the finale to Monday.

“We were fortunate on the dash inversion again and we picked up a spot to start on the front row,” he said.

Starks again placed second in the dash to start the 35-lap A Main on the outside of the front row.

“I got a good start and out in the lead,” he said. “We had a caution about halfway. We had a three-second lead and a handful of lapped cars between and both got erased after the caution came out. After restarting I was searching on the race track. It was really slick and wide. I was trying to gauge my speed off lapped car speed to see where the fast line was. I got caught racing with lapped cars. I’m sure it was nice for Lucas (Wolfe) to watch where I was going and he could feel out where he was faster. It was tough to get passed by Lucas with about five laps to go, but he’s one of the best out here.”

Starks maintained the lead until Wolfe drove around him in traffic with only a few laps remaining. The second-place finish was Starks’ fifth top five this season.

Starks opened last weekend on Friday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C., where he battled mechanical woes to start the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series event. He qualified 23rd quickest before placing seventh in a heat race and 17th in the main event.

“That makes it really tough to run the Outlaws format because it’s so heavily based on qualifying,” he said. “We picked up a few spots in the main event and salvaged a 17th-place finish out of the night. I was happy with that. It’s tough to start the night out rough like that.”

Starks is slated to drive for Doug Rutz this Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series.

QUICK RESULTS –

May 26 – The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C. – Qualifying: 23; Heat race: 7 (8); Feature: 17 (20).

May 27 – Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 2 (2); Feature: 4 (2).

May 28 – Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 2 (2); Dash: 2 (3); Feature: 2 (2).

SEASON STATS –

16 races, 1 win, 5 top fives, 6 top 10s, 8 top 15s, 13 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Starks55Trey

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreyStarksRacing?fref=ts

APPAREL –

Starks has t-shirts and hoodies for sale at http://www.TreyStarksRacing.com.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Champion Brands

Champion Brands, LLC, is a globally recognized industry leader in specialty lubricants for 60 years. Champion also produces and blends more than 300 products including fuel, oil and engine additives and lubricants for the automotive, heavy truck, agricultural and specialty markets. For more information, visit http://www.ChampionBrands.com.

“Champion Brands is a great company that is synonymous with racing,” Starks said. “We use Champion oil and other Champion products and we are proud to be supported by such an esteemed company.”

Gobrecht Motorsports would also like to thank Starks Timber Processing, Golf Cart Services, ServiceMaster Clean, J&J Auto Racing, Textron Off Road, FK Rod Ends, Fibreworks Composites, Moose Blocks, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Beer Hill Gang, Gettysburg Rental Center, Gardy’s Enterprises, Kleffel’s, Baker Door Company, Moose Lodge 720, Pancho’s Racing Products, Pro Shocks, Auto Meter, KSE Racing Products, Fel-Pro, Taylor Ignition Wires, Miller Welders, K&N Filters, Mettec, Bell Helmets, AL Driveline, DMI, Champion Spark Plugs, ISC Racers Tape, Schroth Racing, HMS Motorsports, King Racing Products, Kinsler Fuel Injection, All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads, Ultra Lite Brakes & Components and Security Race Products for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.