2018 Round 9: Nashville

After a wild race at Gateway that saw Jek Porkins hold off a hard-charging TJ Martin for the victory, the Hardee's National Series teams make their way to Nashville, better known as Music City, USA, for some Nighttime racing! As the Season moves to the Summer part of the schedule, each race becomes more and more important. Limiting mistakes will be key, and being able to take advantage of other's mistakes will be crucial if you want to contend for the Championship.

Jake West looks to increase his points lead, while TJ Martin, Cory Williams, and the rest of the Hardee's National Series field look to close the gap. Who will walk away with the victory here in Music City? We're about to find out, this Saturday at 6pm(EST)!

Entry list for Nashville(HNS):

#0 - Hannah Allen (R)
#2 - Matt Daleo
#4 - Jake West
#5 - Eric Demax
#6 - Sean Angel (R)
#7 - Caleb Farrell (R)
#8 - Alex Benyacko (R)
#9 -Tyler Commons (R)
#05 - Alexander Rowe
#07 - Emmett Juckem
#10 - Oliver McDaniels (R)
#12 - Blaze McKinney
#14 - Cory Williams
#15 - Jake Rogers (R)
#17 - James Richardson
#22 - Jeffrey White (R)
#26 - Vince Freeze (R)
#27 - Daniel Bouchard (R)
#29 - Max Ledger (R)
#36 - Kyle Keith (R)
#39 - Daniel Olson (R)
#40 - James Shelly
#51 - Rob Evans (R)
#53 - Jon Bunnell
#59 - Jack Hallec (R)
#60 - Aiden Shepherd (R)
#62 - Samet Ozkan
#65 - Patrick Smith (R)
#66 - Anthony Marchesi (R)
#69 - Paul Jackson (R)
#70 - Carlie McDowell
#71 - TJ Martin
#74 - Robert Harrison
#81 - Elisheva Stolarz
#82 - Jonathan Wong
#86 - Kyle Basaglia
#88 - John Arndt
#92 - Will Lewis
#94 - Nick Samon
#95 - Jek Porkins (R)
#96 - Eric Monaco (R)
#99 - Vance Caldwell (R)

*Notables: #34, #61, #90 not racing (SCS obligations or HNS Part Time obligations).

Eric Demax Starts on Pole, CM Racing(Somewhat) Struggles
After a very rough start to the season for Eric Demax and the Mace Enterprises team, things are beginning to look up, as Eric was able to put the #5 Procore Chevy on the Pole here in Nashville. While the finishes haven't exactly been there for him so far this season(his best finish is a 10th at Talledega 2 races ago), over the last 3 races the team has significantly improved their qualifying speed, with starts of 4th, 2nd, and now a Pole. It's only a question on if they can keep this pace up during the race, and stay out of the trouble that has ailed them so far this season.

Other Notables:
---A pretty good qualifying effort for the Fearsport team, as all 3 cars will start inside the Top 10. This is the 2nd time they have been able to accomplish the feat this season. The other time they did it: Round 2 @Rockingham, where they were able to capture the victory with Will Lewis.
---For the 1st time this season, no CM Racing cars will start inside the Top 10, a really surprising note considering they have qualified on the Pole the last 2 races(Hannah Allen @Talledega, Jek Porkins @Gateway). It will be interesting to see if this is a cause of concern going into the race, or if they were just more concerned about race speed.
---Probably the driver most disappointed with their qualifying result has to be Aidan Shepherd, who qualified 25th. Considering how his Rodriguez Racing teammates qualified(3rd and 4th), it will be interesting to see what adjustments they will make for the race to be able to race their way up through the field.

STARTING LINEUP FOR NASHVILLE
1: #5 Eric Demax
2: #14 Cory Williams
3: #6 Sean Angel
4: #66 Anthony Marchesi
5: #94 Nick Samon
6: #17 James Richardson
7: #40 James Shelly
8: #92 Will Lewis
9: #71 TJ Martin
10: #07 Emmett Juckem
11: #95 Jek Porkins
12: #4 Jake West
13: #86 Kyle Basaglia
14: #12 Blaze McKinney
15: #0 Hannah Allen
16: #8 Alex Benyacko
17: #2 Matt Daleo
18: #10 Oliver McDaniels
19: #88 John Arndt
20: #81 Elisheva Stolarz
21: #7 Caleb Farrell
22: #27 Daniel Bouchard
23: #05 Alexander Rowe
24: #9 Tyler Commons
25: #60 Aidan Shepherd
26: #26 Vince Freeze
27: #70 Carlie McDowell
28: #62 Samet Ozkan
29: #65 Patrick Smith
30: #96 Eric Monaco
31: #53 Jon Bunnell
32: #59 Jack Hallec
33: #69 Paul Jackson
34: #29 Max Ludger
35: #36 Kyle Keith
36: #39 Daniel Olson
37: #22 Jeffrey White
38: #15 Jake Rogers
39: #82 Jonathan Wong
40: #99 Vance Caldwell
41: #74 Robert Harrison
42: #52 Rob Evans

J. Kurtis: "A shame that we didn't have the cars up to speed as anticipated, and it's unfortunate that West had issues. We did some investigations and found out what had broken, so we know what we need to work on in order to prevent that same mistake again. Reliability is a major priority for us if we want to get some solid points. Good job for Cory getting a top 10! We'll see what we can do these next couple of races in order to gain some ground."

Richardson's crew chief made a great call to stay out an extra lap, paid huge dividends for him in the end!

Tommy Turbo(President/CEO of CM Racing): "Really proud of our effort here this weekend. We didn't have the best of speed in qualifying, but everyone worked hard and we came away with some solid runs. We might have had a chance at a win even, but the fuel strategy probably hurt us a bit in the end. But still, overall a solid run."

30th for Hallec