Keeton Hanks slides his way to a Top Five finish at Toledo.
By: Allen=Hock Motorsports/Jeremy Troiano-51 Sports
 

Results

         
       17-year-old Keeton Hanks finished a solid fourth in his first ever
appearance at the Toledo (OH) Speedway during the Glass Breaker 200 on April 21,
2007. (ASALMS File Photo)
Auburn, Kentucky (04/25/2007): It might have been young Keeton Hanks' first
visit to Toledo Speedway (OH), but nobody could tell that by looking at him out
on the track. In his first appearance at the Glassbreaker 200 weekend, Hanks put
up an impressive attempt at getting his 2007 ASA Late Model Series Challenge
Division season back on track by bringing home a fourth-place finish.

"Toledo was a great experience for me," said Hanks. "I had never even seen the
track before, and it was good being able to get some laps and to learn to adapt
to that was as challenging as it is. I was really amazed at how it was really
hard to pass."We had a fourth-place car and we put it in fourth place. It was a
good weekend."

It wasn't exactly an easy feat for the young driver to do, however. Hanks
started the race from the 15th position and had to work his way up through the
field.

"We went out in qualifying and kind of messed ourselves up by qualifying 15th. I
was pretty worried, but then the race started and the track really changed. I
just tried not to get in anyone's way and tried to avoid all of the wrecks. To
get a top-five finish out of that, you can't complain at all."

Once the race was underway, things didn't get any easier for the young driver.
He had to be able to react quickly to the things that happened out on the track.
"I am a racer, I like all tracks. I don't really have a favorite, but Toledo was
a good track and one I will look forward to going back to. Everything happens
really fast there. You have to be able to react pretty fast."

"We actually got really lucky in the race. A couple of cars in front of us made
contact and actually spun the leader. We were running about sixth, and I slowed
up to avoid it and got tagged from behind. We went spinning, but I was able to
chase the car. We made a complete 360 turn, and we were able to keep going and
keep our spot.

"The car was a rocket from them on. I have some of the hardest working guys in
the pits. They got the car set up right for me, and it was a really good day for
us." This fourth-place goes a long way in the ultimate goal of the season;
bringing home the 2007 ASA Late Model Series Challenge Division Championship for
the Allen-Hock Motorsports team.

"We got our season started off wrong in Texas, but everyone is going to have one
of those weeks," added Hanks. "We just need to keep putting it in the top-five
each week, and hopefully the win will come after that. We will keep digging
ourselves out of the hole."

The next ASA Late Model Series Challenge Division event will be held on May
11-12, 2007 at the Hawkeye Downs (IA) Speedway in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the
Crate Motor Classic 200.

For more information on Keeton Hanks or Allen-Hock Motorsports, please contact
Jeremy Troiano at (704) 788-2134 and stay tuned for the all new Allen-Hock
website coming soon.