By Ken Bruce
Coming off a successful weekend of racing, Bobby Hackel IV made the trek down to Pennsylvania to compete in the Short Track Super Series “Berks County Brawl” at Action Track USA. Hackel had seen racing at Action Track USA and knew it was a track he wanted to race at. One thing he never thought about was that it would be in a full-scale modified stock car.
“I always wanted to race at Action Track, but I never thought it would be in a modified,” stated Hackel after his fourth-place finish. “But we saw this event that Brett (STSS promoter Brett Deyo) was promoting and knew we had to come.”
Racing on such a small track, most teams came with either a spec 358 or open 360 motor bolted to their cars. Unfortunately for Hackel, he did not have that option.
“Unfortunately, we hurt our small motor,” mentioned Hackel. “So, we were forced to bring our 450-wide bore, which makes over 900 horsepower. With that motor, I had to stab, steer, and just hold on. It sure was a helluva ride.”
With his big engine in the No. 97, Hackel thrilled the crowd through warmups, his heat race, and the feature as he carried the left front off the ground for what seemed like full laps at a time. At one point, coming out of turn four, Hackel stomped the throttle, and both front wheels came off the ground, providing the fans with a massive wheelie, provoking cheers from the huge crowd on hand, and giving the photographers plenty of opportunities to get that perfect picture.
Starting from the pole in the 50-lap main event, Hackel knew he had a chance of winning, but an early mistake put the East Greenbush, N.Y., driver in a hole.
“I kind of stepped on in the first lap there and threw away a good starting spot and took myself out of the picture for a win,” explained Hackel. “But we were able to get close there when the traffic came into play a couple of times, and it was a helluva a race. I really think the fans got their money’s worth tonight, and it ended up being a great show for everybody. I never thought we could race 50 laps and only have one caution flag, and that just goes to show that we had a great group of drivers here tonight and a great event was put on. I certainly hope there is a second year for this race so we can come back and try to do a little bit better. If anything, maybe I sold some t-shirts tonight.”
Coming off a big win on Sunday night at Five Mile Point Speedway, it has been a good weekend for the Killer Crate Racing Team.
“It’s been a good little three-race stretch for us here,” commented Hackel. “We ran third at Utica-Rome on Friday night, and then getting the win on Sunday at Five Mile Point gives us a good weekend. You know, it could’ve and should’ve been a little better tonight, but we had a great time, and it was worth our while to come here tonight.
For any comments or questions, I can be reached via email at dirtracefan25@hotmail.com or on Twitter (X) at @dirtracefan25.
