Gage Walker Begins 2017 with Solid Du Quoin Finish
By Jessica Jenkins

With the USAC national midget season kicking off Saturday in southern IL, Gage Walker and his family-owned team were prepared to start off strong. After not racing at the Southern Illinois Center in December, the 19 year old was more than ready to get back on the indoor track.

Expecting to top his 16th place in the inaugural Shamrock Classic, Walker quickly began flexing his muscle in the heat race. He gained one spot on the first lap before a yellow re-racked the field and then pulled inside on the restart for third place before another yellow sent him back to fourth. An intense battle with reigning champion Tanner Thorson for the remainder of the race provided ample amounts of excitement for the fans in the stands. Walker wheeled past on the inside with one to go, but tight racing and contact sent Walker back into fourth place as they came to the line.

Knowing how strong his car was, Walker started on the pole of the fourth Qualifier and didn't look back. He hung onto the lead, at times pulling away and at others, fighting hard to hold off his toughest competitors. With yellows peppering the 12 lap race, it kept allowing the others on track to close back up on him. Restarting with two to go, the black and red #7 took off just ahead of NASCAR star Christopher Bell. With 1 to go, the Keith Kunz Motorsports driver drove past and Walker's dominating run wrapped up with a second place finish.

After passing points were tallied, Walker had earned the final locked in spot for the Feature. His crew chief/father went to work making the necessary adjustments and when the green flag waved for the 50 lap race, the Indianapolis native immediately started moving forward. By the 1/4 point he had already gained three spots and moved into the top ten. As laps clicked off and the leader put car after car a lap down, Walker kept fighting for every spot he could get, using both the high and low line. With under 20 to go, the racing line shifted back to the lower lane and left the young driver on the outside. When the checkered flag waved and the dust settled, Walker packed up and headed home with a thirteenth place finish, maintaining his lead lap status. Afterwards he elaborated, "About 10 laps in, the fast lane was around the top and I started reeling in the guys in front of me and three or four of us got to racing. We were all battling back and forth and I actually got around all three of them and then the caution came out and put me back behind. And then after that caution, it all went back to the bottom and I stayed up top too long and lost a couple positions, so that was probably the biggest mistake throughout the night for me, was staying on top too long when everyone else already went to the bottom and losing those positions. Otherwise I could have at least had a top ten for the night."

He wants to thank his sponsors: Spike Chassis, Impact, Walker & Sons, Wilwood Brakes, Business Art DeSigns, Access Mobility and Superior Bearings. As well as everybody that helps him out and supports him every week, especially his dad and all the guys that help with the car.

Next up for the rising star is the USAC doubleheader at Kokomo Speedway April 7th and 8th. As we march into the rest of the season, you can follow Walker via social media on Facebook @GageWalkerRacing and on Twitter @GageWalker7 or learn more about him and where he's come from on his website, GageWalkerRacing.com. Pictures from the Shamrock Classic will also be posted on Facebook.

Results in a nutshell
Heat 3 ~ start: 5th finish: 4th
Qualifier 4 ~ start: 1st finish: 2nd
Feature ~ start: 12th finish: 13th

Gage Walker on the Shamrock Classic
"It wasn't too bad, it could have been a little better, but we definitely had a fast car all night and we were competitive. Its hard to judge how your season's gonna be off this one race because it's about a lot more luck involved than at most races and it's all about track position. It was just kind of one lane track tonight, so it was hard to go anywhere. But it wasn't bad, it'll be a good opener for the season. It's kind of hard to use this track compared to Kokomo, with it being such a bigger track, a lot faster and outdoors. We tried a few different things with the car tonight, different setups and stuff that we've never done before, so we were kind of using this race to see how it'd work. Hopefully it all transfers over to the outdoor stuff and helps us improve on last year."

On racing Tanner Thorson in the heat
"We were just racing hard and trying to get every passing point we could get and he was trying to do the same thing as I am. It's indoor racing, it's part of it."