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Kathryne Minter Racing
Chassis -- J & J
Driver -- Kathryne Minter
Crew Chief – Sean McClelland
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Minter Races Past 12 Cars at Knoxville 360 Nationals
KNOXVILLE, IA (August 4) – Kathryne Minter drove her family’s #13m Concrete
Crushing Company J&J past 12 cars in Saturday’s feature racing program
at the 17th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals.
Minter, who was making her debut at
Knoxville Raceway, raced into third place in the “E” Feature to qualify for
the “D,” then raced past seven cars to finish 16th in the “D”
Feature.
“I was running third and I was
really mad because I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Kathryne said after the “E” Feature. “At first, they
said they were only taking the top two, but they ended up taking seven. I
was praying for a caution. I was catching the guy in front of me (Eric
Lutz), but I just didn’t have enough laps to pass him.”
A malfunctioning spark plug kept
the #13m from running at its full capacity.
“The car felt really good in hot
laps,” Kathryne said, “but we had some motor
problems. We had trouble with one of the spark plugs, so we had some
running issues. I was still fast even though we had the spark plug problem.
We hurried to get that fixed after hot laps.”
Despite having to continually deal
with the engine problems, Minter improved seven positions the “D” Feature.
“We were still dealing with the
motor when I went out for the ‘D,’ Kathryne said.
“I started pretty far back, but we ran pretty well the first few laps
before the track started changing. We knew it was going to change, but we
didn’t have time to deal with that because we were making sure we got the
motor fixed. It was a brand new motor we got back from Wells Thursday, so
we wanted to make sure we got it taken care of. My car was really tight in
one corner and really loose in the other one, so I had to keep reminding
myself to turn more here and not as much there. It was really loose in
three and four, so I didn’t turn as much. In one and two, it was really
tight, so I had to remind myself to turn it more there. So it was pretty
challenging.
“We had quite a few cautions. On
one, I looked down and noticed my motor was only running at 140 (degrees).
It usually runs at 200 to 210. The temperature was really low and it the
motor didn’t sound quite right. I knew I wasn’t going to qualify (for the
“C”) from where I was, so I pulled in with about three laps left. I didn’t
want to hurt my motor, so I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. If
I had been in a transfer spot, I would have stayed out.”
The Knoxville 360 Nationals was
definitely a learning experience for the 16-year-old driver who has only
been racing three years. She accepted an invitation to race in Sunday’s Brodix Tournament of Champions.
“I learned a lot, and I hope it
helps me in the Brodix race,” Kathryne
said. “I hope I don’t have to use the provisional they have for me; I want
to make it by myself.”
Minter has been a hit off the
racetrack as well, and was invited to Monday’s autograph session at
Knoxville Raceway.
“I hope I can stay next week
because they want me to do an autograph signing,” Kathryne
said. “There was also a guy from a radio show called Racing Fans Direct who
wants me to be a guest. I’ve signed so many autographs this week; it’s
amazing. I’ve been having a really good time.”
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