HAMPTON, ON- 2014 has been a tale of two seasons for OSCAAR Super Late Model Tour rookie Kelly Balson. Though ‘The Crowd Pleaser’ has shown flashes of brilliance, the 6-time Peterborough Speedway track champion has struggled to find consistency, particularly through the back half of his freshman campaign.
Now, with two events remaining in the 2014 season, Balson is set to return to Sunset Speedway for this weekend’s Velocity 250 mega-show with hopes of earning his third top-5 finish with the tour.
“We’ve been experimenting with a new shock package for the last two races, and it’s certainly been a work in progress”, explains Balson.
“This technology is all new to this team, so we knew that we would be forced to take a step backwards in order to take a gigantic step forward in the very near future”, continues Balson. “We’re confident that we have a handle on our setup issues, and hope to be back in contention this weekend”
Less than 3 months removed from a top-5 finish at June’s Don Biederman Memorial, Balson notes that – despite a frustrating performance in his most recent visit to the track on August 23rd – he feels as though his Sunset program has improved exponentially over the course of the season.
“Our first race at Sunset, we really had no clue what we we’re doing”, says Balson. “We’ve taken continuous steps forward ever since that race. I consider [August 23rd] to be a one-off. Our entire team has learned from our mistakes and moved past that event. We struggled more that day than any other moment in my career. That’s the most frustrated I’ve ever been behind the wheel of a racecar”
“The Velocity is going be all about improvement for us”, continues Balson. “I’m excited to be back working with [Crew Chief] Graham Flett again. He’s been busy for most of the summer with some NASCAR Canadian Tire Series commitments, but he’ll be with us at Sunset and we always seem to perform better when he’s calling the shots”
Gate times and ticket prices for Sunset Speedway’s Velocity weekend can be found at www.SunsetSpeedway.ca.
Balson’s 2014 efforts are supported by London Recreational Racing, Dan McHattie Racecars, Shelley Taxidermy, BARKER and Cochrane Automotive.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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