So far, so good for Kyle Strickler in his first visit to Batesville Motor Speedway.
After posting the fastest time in qualifying Tuesday night, Strickler dominated Wednesday night’s preliminary feature, leading all 25 laps to secure a front-row starting spot for Saturday night’s Race for Hope 74, one of the nation’s richest dirt modified events, paying $20,000 to win.
“So far, I love this place,” said Strickler, of Mooresville, N.C. “I wish we could run every race here.”
Terry Phillips of Springfield, Mo., and Cave City’s Jeff Taylor, both veterans of the Locust Grove track, finished second and third, respectively. They were left shaking their heads at Strickler’s dominance.
“We don’t want no more of him tonight,” Taylor said.
Strickler started in the middle of the front row for Wednesday’s prelim feature, which started 30 drivers from 12 states and Canada. He jumped to the lead at the green flag and held a straightaway lead by the fifth. His only issue was navigating through lapped traffic.
“The lapped cars were getting sketchy in front of me,” he said. “But once I cleared and got them where they were two-wide in front of me instead of three-wide, it wasn’t too bad.”
Strickler was never challenged for the top spot and held a 3.375-second lead over Phillips at the checkered flag.
He is a two-time winner of dirt modified racing’s signature event, the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa, and in May he pocketed $50,000 after winning the Modified Super Weekend at Farley (Iowa) Speedway.
So far, he couldn’t have wished for a better start to his first visit to Batesville.
“Even though I’ve never been here before, it plays into my style and how we got the car set up,” he said. “The thing has been a dream to drive. It’s been fast right out of the trailer, which is how you like them.”
The top eight finishers Wednesday night secured inside row starting spots for Saturday night’s main event. Eight more raced their way into the finale Thursday night, setting the middle rows. The final eight spots will be set tonight and those drivers will have the outside row starting positions.