Hunter Robbins Nearly Wins Rattler in His First Attempt
The Rattler is a tough old race at a challenging old racetrack. The 250-lap event at South Alabama Speedway has sent many veteran drivers home with their tail between their legs. So when a 15-year-old driver rolled through the gates for the 31st running of the event, conventional wisdom would say that he would be in for a long day and a disappointing result. Could a typical young driver be a contender? Not likely.
But Hunter Robbins is no typical 15-year-old. On Sunday he proved that, by coming within inches of winning the race after an amazing finish that left the top-two cars spinning across the finish line and wrecking just beyond it.
Robbins entered the final lap of the race with Super Late Model hotshoe Augie Grill on his bumper. Coming down the checkered flag, the two drivers made contact and Grill took the victory by the slimmest of margins.
“I was trying not to overdrive the corner,” said Robbins. “I was thinking in the back of my head that he was going to try something. I didn’t want to slide up the track, so I was trying to be careful. I still didn’t have the grip that I needed to have, even though we had two new (right side) tires. We were just terrible on new tires. Once we had some laps on the tires, we could start picking people off. Our car was awesome on the older tires. Our car would just stay on the bottom.
“The spotter said (Augie) never lifted. He said he just drove it down in there. I was just trying to hold on to it and get in the gas at the same time after the bump. Coming down the straightaway, we just wrecked. I was going for the win.”
Frustration was just one of many emotions that Robbins felt immediately after the race.
“It’s sad. I think I cried,” admitted Robbins. “I guess I’m just frustrated, though. We almost had this race in our first try, which would have been big.”
Showing a lot of class among both drivers, Grill and Robbins then shared a hug on the front stretch after both got out of their mangled machines.
“Augie and them built this (GARC) car. These were two Frankie Grill cars running up there for the win. Augie late-pitted and that helped him. His car was good. I figured when we got by him, we’d pull away. He hung right there with us. He had a good car, and we had a good car. It’s just too bad that it ended up this way.”
Amazingly, this was Robbins’ first try at the Rattler at South Alabama. He’ll definitely be returning in the not-so-distant future.
Hunter Robbins. (51 Photos)
“We’ll be back here. Today didn’t end quite how we would
have liked it to….we didn’t get the win, but we’ll be back this
year and win some of those Viper Series (Super Late Model) races. We’ll be back here to get the Rattler another year, too.”
Robbins’ next chance at winning will come during the April 1st Spring Clash 150, CRA Super Series event, at Nashville’s Music City Motorplex.
For more information on Hunter Robbins, contact Amy Hayes at (704) 455-2051 or visit HunterRobbins.com for more information. For marketing opportunities with Hunter, please contact Richard Walton at Walton Motorsports Marketing at (205) 337-9587.
Robbin's No. 18 car had to be towed to the tech area after his wild second place finish. (51 Photos)
