NICK HAMILTON HAS RUMBLE FEATURE STREAK END ON SUNDAY
By Zach Tasker

Danville Community High School senior Nick Hamilton was looking to continue his surprising form at the Rumble in Fort Wayne indoor midget races in Northeast Indiana on Sunday December 28. The driver who was finishing up his national midget rookie campaign surprised some people with his quick pace on the opening two days of the Rumble; Friday and Saturday. On the opening night, Nick would win the first heat race then he finished 9th in the feature with a smooth and steady run keeping calm while multiple others crashed out in front of him.

Saturday was more of the same story as he would quietly finish in 8th spot in the feature, proving to multiple car owners in attendance he could finish up front without tearing up equipment. Sunday he was looking to keep that magic going and make it into the Rumble feature event on all three nights, which is quite a feat considering there is 41 cars going for just 16 spots.

In qualifying on Sunday afternoon, Hamilton would post a lap time of 8.526 seconds which put him in 20th position. He would start the 4th heat race in 5th spot and have to pass some cars as only the top 3 would transfer to the feature. Hamilton could only push his Gregg Steele owned midget into 4th place against tough competition.

Up next on the docket for the day would be the b main. The driver of the #1 Curtis Motor Sales/Danville Community High School Beast/Focus would start in 4th spot with the top two drivers earning their ticket to the big show. Just as in the heat race Nick would struggle making up ground and miss the show by three spots, ending his 2014 Rumble. “Our qualifying time wasn’t very good. It just went downhill from there once we started in the back of the heat race our underpowered car just couldn’t hang with them once they kind of opened up the track a little bit. We were really happy with how we did. I’m thankful for my team and everything they have put into the race; it was a good weekend. I was at a disadvantage, but we came into it knowing that, and I think we used the best that we had coming into the race. Everybody was kind of doubting the fact that we could make it in. I knew we could get it in as long as we drove it hard. That’s what we did the first two nights and didn’t have as much luck the third night, but we are thankful for everything that we got to do here in Fort Wayne.”

Nick Hamilton’s 2015 racing plans have yet to be finalized but there are a few irons in the fire. “You run out of things to do after pavement midget racing has kind of got shut down. I am trying to look at some dirt ideas and maybe some other open options that I have and hope that some people can see that I really want to race a car and I’m going to drive it as hard as I can and hopefully find some rides.”