[JessicaJ]

Kokomo Grand Prix Tells Two Stories for Gage Walker
By Jessica Jenkins

Three weeks after the first USAC race of the season, Gage Walker drove up to Kokomo Speedway for the two day Kokomo Grand Prix. Delayed one day due to weather and cold temperatures, the second National Midget race in the USAC schedule kicked off Saturday afternoon.

Setting the 23rd fastest time in hot laps and 25th on his two-lap qualifying run, Walker lined up seventh for the first heat race. Starting on the bottom, he ran that line for a few laps before running whichever lane he needed. Side by side racing ahead made it difficult to pass cars, but by halfway he had gained one spot. Needing to make it into the top four to go straight to the feature and with the ten lap race winding down, the 19 year old began catching fifth spot, but ran out of time and took the checkered in sixth spot.

In the B Main Walker once more started from the seventh spot and instantly began passing cars. Jumping into the top five within the first few laps, the kid from Fairland, IN placed himself into a transfer spot. He kept charging hard and masterfully moved into the top three by the end of lap 12. That finish gave Walker a 21st place start in the Feature lineup and immediately started gaining positions. By the first yellow ten laps in, he was up three spots and survived a flurry of yellows while still gaining spots. However, a developing motor problem began hampering his progress in the final third of the race. When the white flag started waving, the problem got even worse as he watched a certain top ten finish fade away. Fighting through it anyway, Walker claimed his second 13th place finish in two USAC starts this year, taking home the Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher Award.

Heading back down to the shop in Indianapolis, Walker and his family-owned team thought they had figured out what was going on with the motor. But as soon as he took the green in hot laps on Sunday for day two of the Kokomo Grand Prix, the motor shut off again and stalled him on the backstretch. Skipping qualifying and continuing to work, he lined up in the eighth spot in the second heat race, and jumped up to seventh on lap one with his sights set on sixth. But the motor problem bit again and he pulled off by halfway. He was scheduled to start 14th in the last chance race, but opted not to even get on track as they continued to try and diagnose the problem. Ultimately night two was a scratch and the work continued into the week as they changed everything possible on the motor.

Afterwards Walker shared, "Night one went pretty good. Kokomo is definitely an awesome track where you're on edge all the time. The cushion gets right on the wall and if you don't run it perfect every corner you're going for a ride. We weren't very good in qualifying which put us at the back of the heat race. But we definitely had a top 10 car until the motor started laying down after the last caution with around 10 to go."

On Saturday, April 15 with a second motor in the car, Walker and his #7 team are headed up to Montpelier Motor Speedway for his "home track's" season-opening race. Giving it a shakedown to make sure everything is alright before jumping into the rest of the season, it promises to be a gorgeous evening for racing, so head out and cheer him on if you are in the area!

To keep up with Walker and see pictures from his race weekends, check out his fan page on Facebook @Gage Walker Racing. To learn more about him visit GageWalkerRacing.com or interact with him on Twitter @GageWalker7.