[Task Force]

MIKE WALLACE RACING HEADING TO KOKOMO KLASH FRESH OFF ILLINI MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP
By Zach Tasker
2014 Illini Racing Series midget champions Mike Wallace Racing will be fielding two cars in this Fridays prestigious Kokomo Klash presented by Allstar Performance, the 8th running of this late season event.

Some teams would be keen on resting on their championship laurels, but not MWR. The Joliet, Illinois based restricted midget super team wants to show their Ecotec engines can keep up with the national motors. 2014 IRS champion Patrick Bruns and rookie of the year Jimmy Clark Jr will do battle with the team.

Team owner Mike Wallace is relishing the opportunity to compete this weekend “We are looking to do some R&D, a little bit of testing that gives us more laps. We are looking at getting things in place to do a couple other shows later this year, a couple big ones maybe in the Oklahoma state so we are gearing up to get things in order to make a really successful run there. We are doing a little more tweaking on the engines, trying to get a little more out of it and trying to maybe gear it a little more towards a platform that will keep up with the $30,000 power plants that will be quite a bit less than what they go for. We did it this year once on the pavement with Patrick at Grundy County and we actually beat a couple of the national cars with our Ecotec, so we weren’t too far off. So with that being said that was still in restricted trim, we are actually going to pull the restrictors out and basically give it a run for its money. ”

For Bruns, it will be his first trip back to Kokomo Speedway since he last won there and swept the weekend on April 11 and 12 in USAC HPD Midwest Dirt Series competition. “We had some success earlier in the year there and picked up a couple of wins in the midget and we are really looking forward to being back there to run the Kokomo Klash. Looking forward to seeing some good weather, good racing, good car counts and it’s always an awesome crowd at Kokomo.”

The driver of the #10b Darcy GMC/Mobil 1/Triple T Car Wash & Lube/MWR Lightning/Ecotec had a banner year in the Illini Racing Series, winning his record breaking 3rd straight championship along with 6 feature victories. “We just want to go to Kokomo and have a real good showing and be respectable. We are not going to try to set the world on fire and I think it’s going to be good for rookie Jimmy Clark to get some laps under his belt with the national tires and the national exposure. This is just a fun weekend for us, we still take it serious. We put a lot into it, but it’s definitely a relaxed atmosphere compared to what we have been up against all year.”

For Jimmy Clark Jr, driver of the #10c MWR Lightning/Ecotec, making his first career national midget start after a great year in the IRS is the perfect way to end his outdoor season. The 2014 IRS rookie of the year picked up an impressive 3 feature victories with an amazing car control driving style that earned him the nickname “wild thing” “I’m super excited, a little bit nervous, but with Patrick as my teammate I know he has done a lot of races like this and has a lot of experience so if I can just follow his way and take all the little tips he gives me throughout the weekend I think we will be just fine.
I’m really excited to get back on the dirt; I think that was my Achilles heel a little bit this year, just getting comfortable on the dirt. So any time I get the opportunity to race on it, I jump on it. I just want to get out there and just try to figure out the little tips because obviously I’m not where I need to be on the dirt and I just want to find that little bit more so I can start competing for wins too on the dirt.”

The Kokomo Klash gets underway at 7pm this Friday night at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Indiana. Follow MWR Technology/Lightning Chassis on Facebook for live updates from the team throughout the night.

[addictedtodirt]

Thank you for the information. Best of luck to your team.

I wish more teams would do this.