Robbins Strong At Kenly; Looking For Success At Hickory

Hunter Robbins, an aspiring rookie in the Hooter’s Pro Cup series, was looking forward to racing at Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, NC on July 19th.  Robbins came to the track to prove that even though he was a first-timer there, it wasn’t going to keep him from being out front.

Hunter Robbins heads to Hickory Motor Speedway.

(51 Sports Photo)

Robbins headed into qualifying with a top ten car, but wound up coming out with a 16th-place starting position in a field of close competitors.

“Qualifying was really tough there.  Everybody was so good.  Everybody qualified really well,” admitted Robbins.  “My first lap was pretty good, but the second lap it got away from me a little bit.  We should have started in the top ten.  We were probably really close to a top five.”

Knowing where he was really meant to be in the field, Robbins worked his way up from 16th to the front of the pack where he stayed for about 100 laps.  In the end, lapped traffic was the only thing that stood in his way of getting a top-five finish.

“We were able to get back up front where we knew we were going to run.  We were able to just ride in the top five almost the whole race.  Right before the end of the race, we had a lot of trouble with lap cars,” explained Robbins.  “With Kenly, it is such a one-groove racetrack that once you get out of the line a little bit and get caught behind a slower car it’s hard to get back in line.  It’s really hard to pass there so we got freight-trained by about ten cars. 

“We came in and got tires there at the end, but being that it’s a one-groove racetrack we couldn’t make it up to the front in time to have a good finish.  If we would have finished fourth or fifth we would have been the highest rookie and gained a lot of points.  It’s just another set back and we have to keep holding our heads up and get ready to go to the next race.  Eventually we are going to break this string of bad luck and things are going to turn around for us.”

Robbins will have another shot at that top five at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) on August 2nd.  Once again, he will be a new comer at the track, but it didn’t hold him back the first time around, and he’s not planning to let it hold him back the second.

“I have to learn the racetrack and get my car changed to where it needs to be and hope for the best,” said Robbins.  “We’ve just got to keep looking forward and keep gaining this experience.  It’s a very tough series to race in.  We’ve just got to get our minds set on Hickory and put this weekend behind us.”