Marietta, GA (7/2/2018) –
Jacob Gerken kicked off the Lucas Oil Midwest
Short Course Racing League season with a pair
of eighth-place finished at Crandon International
Off-Road Raceway in Wisconsin. Gerken is campaigning
a Polaris RZR 1000 in the Sportsman Class.
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Gerken
Racing's Jacob Gerken is making his
2018 debut in Sportsman UTV class at
the Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League
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Prior to this season, Gerken purchased Mickey
Thomas’ East Coast car and competed in regional
races in the Southeast. After spectacular
results, he decided this year to go national.
He competed in the Spring National in May.
“My dad and started out trail riding and
having fun and then my friend Mickey Thomas
asked me if I wanted to buy his car,” said
Gerken. “We started racing local events in
Durhamtown and Kentucky. I started to get
really good at it, winning and scoring podiums,
so we decided to step it up this year so here
we are at Crandon.”
Heavy rains inundated the track on Friday
and Saturday, forcing officials to cancel
qualifying and practice. With no track time,
Gerken went for it in the final on Saturday.
After starting 16th due to the random draw,
he pushed hard and finished eighth in the
muddy and caution-filled event.
“I was fighting the whole time,” said Gerken.
“There were cautions every lap and it was
a rough race, but we just kept digging. We’re
starting in Sportsman to get some experience
at these tracks. My first lap was my first
time ever on this track. I was astounded by
how big the sport has gotten.”
Sunday’s conditions were much better, and
Gerkin took advantage, putting in a competitive
run before a mechanical issue took him out
of contention. To score a pair of too tens
in his first major series weekend is impressive.
“We had a great run going, but mud plugged
the radiator and I elected to pull off to
save the engine,” said Gerkin. “I started
way back, but at the start I jumped all the
way to sixth. I was doing really well. This
was my first time out at Crandon and I had
a great time. I got some good experience and
met some nice people.”
Gerken will be back in action when the Midwest
Short Course League heads to ERX Motor Park
in Elk River, MN July 13-14.
Jacob Gerken 2018
Sponsors:
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