Every year at Super DIRT Week, one driver has a breakthrough performance. At Super DIRT Week 52, that was Super DIRTcar Series competitor Jack Lehner.
The Saratoga Springs, NY driver crossed the line fifth in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200, his best finish at “Racing’s Biggest Party.”
As he prepares for the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Nov. 6-9, he said his finish at Oswego Speedway is starting to set in.
“We got to enjoy it a little bit and relax,” Lehner said. “It’s definitely a cool feeling and definitely cool to see our hard work and progression really come together. Getting a top five at a race like that is definitely a big deal. And it’s got us pumped up to hopefully keep this thing rolling.”
Starting 21st, Lehner had a long way to go to reach the top five. But he had a plan. A plan Lehner said only needed a few adjustments once he realized how good his No. 2 car was.
“The first 50 laps or so, I had a hard time really going anywhere at all,” Lehner said. “My car felt good, I just wasn’t making any ground. We got a long green flag stretch, and once everyone filed out, I started picking up the pace, picking off cars, and moving forward.
“At that point, I knew we had a pretty good piece and just had to make some adjustments and not mess the car up, keep on digging, and that’s what we did.”
While Lehner’s strategy worked for him and his team, there was another variable many teams weren’t planning on. With cold temperatures at Oswego Speedway, teams were burning more fuel than expected in the final 50 laps.
That includes Lehner, who said he started worrying when Anthony Perrego ran out of fuel with five laps to go.
“Once Perrego ran out, I knew we had to be getting close because, with our package, carburetor, and engine, we had to be burning a lot of fuel,” Lehner said. “Under that caution, my fuel gauge was darting around like it was sucking air, and I wasn’t sure if we’d make it or not. The last two laps I was spitting and sputtering down the straightaways and praying to get to the end.
“Luckily, it held on just enough.”
By holding on to fifth, Lehner moved up to seventh in the season standings, which would match his best Super DIRTcar Series points finish. He’s currently ahead of Darren Smith by 25 points and Felix Roy by 29.
Even with the close battle, Lehner said he’s confident that’s where he’ll finish.
“I feel like we’re starting to run how we should at the end of the year,” Lehner said. “We had a slow start to the season on the Series. We weren’t able to put together a lot of good finishes, so I felt like that put us behind the eight-ball as far as the standings go.
“We just have to go down there and do our job. We’re focused, and if we go down and we’re a top five car every night, then we shouldn’t have to worry about it. But if we’re a 20th-place car, they deserve it, and I don’t. That’s how I’m approaching it, and I’m really looking forward to going to Charlotte.”
He has a career-best finish of seventh at the 4/10-mile dirt track but struggled there last year with finishes of 19th, 20th and 17th in the three races.
Lehner will try and carry the momentum of his breakthrough performance at Super DIRT Week toward earning his first Super DIRTcar Series victory when the Series returns to action at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, NC, Nov. 6-9. For Tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the Super DIRTcar Series action on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
