Media and Marketing Contact
Brian Faircloth
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brian@victorymarketingteam.com
March 24, 2009
PICKENS SHINES WHILE RACING 11 FEATURES IN 8 NIGHTS IN HOME STATE
New Smyrna Beach, Fla. – Some racers in the United States barely race 11 times in a whole season. Those racers don’t include Austin Pickens – at least not in 2009 – as the Windermere, Florida, late model driver had 11 feature events in the books before the end of February. And he did it in eight straight nights as a part of the 43rd annual World Series of Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway.
But the story wasn’t simply Austin racing all of those nights, but the success the 15-year-old racer found while competing at the half-mile New Smyrna oval.
Pickens competed in the Limited Late Model class for the duration of the eight-day event and also ran in the FASCAR Pro Truck class throughout the final three nights of racing. With racing beginning Friday, Feb. 6, Pickens immediately showed the speed his No. 63 Victory Marketing Team late model possessed by driving to an excellent second-place finish in Speedweeks’ opening night at New Smyrna.
Austin backed up his second-place run on opening day with another second-place effort in the Limited Late Model feature the following night. He’d drive to another second on Tuesday night, followed by a solid fourth-place run Thursday and another fourth on the week’s final night of racing on Saturday, Feb. 14. Each feature was 25 laps in length, with exception to Thursday’s, which was 50 laps.
As mentioned, Pickens also competed in the FASCAR Pro Truck class at New Symrna, which raced Thursday, Friday and Saturday to conclude the week. In a terrific performance, Austin drove his Greenbriar Landscape No. 63 to three victories in three nights in the trucks, ending the week with a popular win in the 50-lap World Series finale for the Pro Trucks on Saturday night, Feb. 14.
Ultimately, Austin’s results at New Smyrna’s World Series comprised three wins, three second-place finishes and eight top-fives. Austin won the Pro Truck championship and finished a strong third in the competitive limited late model points. The young Florida racer certainly left New Smyrna pleased as he headed back south to his Windermere home.
“It’s great to race so much in just over a week,” Pickens said. “Each night is like a new battle, and it gives us many chances to improve on our setups and me to improve on my driving. The late model and truck both ran well all week. We had some great nights and some that weren’t as good, but overall we’re satisfied and very excited to win the Pro Truck championship and finish third in the Limited Late Model points. I have to thank everyone who is involved with our team for making the week possible.”
Pickens next races are this weekend – and they’re big ones. The Pic’s Motorsports team will first travel to Florida’s Five Flags Speedway Friday night for the Pensacola 100 ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour series opener. If all goes well Friday, the team will head west to Mobile International Speedway in Mobile, Ala., for the second stop on the 2009 ASA Southeast tour.
Austin Pickens has his sights set on the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour and the Georgia Asphalt Series in 2009. A former Motocross and Quarter-midget racer, the ’09 season will be Pickens’ second in the stock car ranks. The Florida racer has an ambitious schedule that will include two of the most competitive asphalt late model series in the country.
Pickens’ 2009 sponsors are DiscoverTec, Boat Max USA, West Orange Nurseries, At My Community, Skinner Nurseries and Greenbriar Landscape.