Hunter Robbins Comes Up One Position Short In “World Classic”

16-Year-Old Racer Claims Second-Place Finish In 20th Annual Super Late Model Event

In the world of short track racing, there are a few key events every driver wants to put on their resume of running and winning.  One of those events is the “World Classic” Super Late Model event at Birmingham International Raceway (AL).

Sunday, 16-year-old Hunter Robbins entered the 20th running of the event looking to be the driver to come out on top.  While he had a strong car and looked to take the victory, Robbins came up one position short, finishing second.

The day started off on a great note for Robbins as he was fast in practice.  After time trials, Robbins clocked in as the fifth-fastest racer, showing he was ready to take the green flag for 150 laps of action.

When the race started, Robbins showed his strength, running within the top spots for the majority of the race.  With less than 50 laps to go, Robbins hit pit road for his final stop and run to the checkered flag.  While he was able to make it back to second, he wasn’t able to take the lead away from Dennis Reno, Jr.

“The car was really good on long runs,” said Robbins. “On old tires, we had the fastest car right before we came to pit. The car wasn’t sliding around and we were good without a caution, but everyone would have come in on the next yellow that we had. Then, we couldn’t get past the leader. Our guys had a great pit stop, but we got blocked in a little bit. It was crowded down there.  I think if we hadn’t gotten blocked in, we would have had this one.  Overall we had a great car this weekend.”

Earlier this season, Robbins finished second to Augie Grill in the “Rattler” at South Alabama Speedway (AL), another key event in short-track racing.  He badly wanted the “World Classic” win to share bragging rights with his good friend, but had to once again settle for the runner-up spot.

“I am good friends with Augie and he took the Rattler,” said Robbins.  “I wanted to take the Classic, but it’s just racing and that’s how it goes.”

Robbins now turns his attention to the CRA Super Series event at O’Reilly Raceway Park (IN) on Saturday September 22nd.  With the great showing in the World Classic, Robbins is looking to keep the strong streak going by having a good showing at ORP.

“The crew did really good this weekend.  Hopefully we can go in to ORP with this momentum and have a good run there.”

Hunter Robbins waves to the crowd.