ACT: Atkins Eager for Oxford Season Opener
Brandon Atkins will begin his full-time American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model season with the first of two visits to Oxford (ME) Plains Speedway Saturday. Atkins’s goals are a top five points finish and win an ACT race. He is looking forward to his first race since Speedweeks at New Smyrna (FL) Speedway in February. “I really liked that track and we did alright,” Atkins said. “We would have liked to have done better. I think we ended up 15th overall.”
Atkins will also run a few local ACT races at Airborne, Devil’s Bowl, and Thunder Road. Atkins is looking forward to the tour stops at Oxford and Thompson (CT) Speedway Motorsports Park because he has never raced there before. The World Series of Speedway Racing in October ends a 23 year hiatus at Thompson. Atkins practiced at Thompson last year.
“I got a little bit of a feel for the track last year, but we didn’t really have enough practice time to learn very much. Especially given it was the first time out with the new tire and LF (left front) shock.”
Atkins started off the 2014 season not so great. A wreck in the first race forced the team to a backup car for the second race. It hurt his momentum for the first two races. He picked up momentum for most of May and June including a fourth at Speedway 51 (formerly Riverside Speedway) and a sixth at Airborne. He finished ninth in the International 500 at Airborne. Some other lows for him were a bad crash at St. Croix and struggling at Beech Ridge (ME) Motor Speedway. He was running tenth in the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road, but got caught up in a wreck.
He likes racing with Josh Masterson at Devil’s Bowl, and Nick Sweet in ACT and Thunder Road.
The first doubleheader for ACT and the PASS AIM Recycling Super Late Models will open the Oxford Plains season. The inaugural Wicked Cool Midgets race is scheduled.
Sources: Matthew Wiernasz/YankeeRacer.com