Caden Mullinax returned to Duck River Raceway Park on Saturday to compete in the $20,000 to win Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series race where he finished 19th.
After a short summer break, Caden Mullinax and the Mullinax Racing team hit the road once more. They arrived on Friday, August 4th, for practice where they shook down the number M2 CRM Motors Black Diamond Super Late Model.
On Friday, the team made two practice sessions on the fast and very grippy quarter-mile race track but made the decision not to make a third due to the predicted dry and slick track the next day. When the team unloaded on Saturday, they were surprised to see that rain was now in the forecast, and the races were now against the clock.
Thirty-nine of the best Super Late Models in the South traveled to the Tennessee racetrack, including national drivers such as Mike Marlar and Dale McDowell. Despite this, the team was confident that they would make a good showing and nab one of the 24 starting positions in this big race.
When qualifying rolled around, Caden was due out second in Group B, where he put down a lap time of 13.4 seconds, fast enough for eighth. This would start him in fourth in the fourth heat race, inside the transfer spots.
By this time in the night, the clouds were looming over the racetrack, and the Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series began running the races quicker with shorter gaps between them to get in the show. This created a problem when it came to changing the car setup as there would simply not be enough time to make any changes that the team would need to make.
In the fourth heat race, Caden was in a dogfight for the third position where he came out on top. This is in spite of right side damage to the car from a spin by the number 31 car of Millwood on the second lap. Caden fought off four charging cars for his position and secured himself a quality twelfth-place start in the feature.
At the start of the feature event, Caden started out strong on the high side of the track, but an early caution forced him to restart out of the groove on the bottom. The car did not work the way Caden wanted it to on the bottom side, and he dropped back in the pack.
When Caden escaped the bottom, he started a charge back up the field but on the back straightaway, he got sandwiched between two cars, which gave him damage on both sides of the car. Caden fought within the pack for the remainder of the seventy-five laps until the checkers where he finished nineteenth.
Despite the slightly disappointing finishing position, Caden and the team are still extremely proud of his efforts and results on the weekend. The Deep Fried 75 is one of the biggest races the team had ever qualified for and looks to continue that success in the next two weeks.
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