KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Jason Blonde has waited a year to chase the win that got away from him at the American Speed U.S. Nationals and is now looking to rebound from last year’s misfortune and bring home the victory this Saturday, May 28, at Kalamazoo Speedway.
The Must See Racing National Touring Series is invading Kalamazoo for this year’s running of the American Speed U.S. Nationals, giving Blonde the opportunity he’s been waiting for.
The event was originally a two-day format, but with a forecast for heavy rains on Friday, officials have consolidated everything into a one-day format for Saturday.
In last year’s event, the eight-time Super Sprints champion was holding the lead late in the race.
It appeared that a victory was all but assured. Blonde had built a comfortable lead and was cruising. Then a late race caution and a double file restart changed everything. On the restart, his car drifted towards the wall and he slipped to fourth in the closing laps of the race in a crushing defeat.
Blonde, who will be making his first pavement sprint car race since last August, recently explained his misfortune last year.
“After that caution came out, I didn’t keep my tires warm and clean,” Blonde recalled. “On the restart, when I went into the corner, it wouldn’t turn. I fell back to fourth on that restart. It’s my fault. I feel like it slipped away. It’s my fault for not keeping my tires scuffed off. I kinda forgot about it.”
He has thought about that race several times since last year, but he will have a chance to redeem himself this weekend.
“I kick myself every day for that. MSR does double-file restarts. I picked the outside lane just because my car was working so good on the outside. That didn’t work well on the restart because I went right to the wall when I throttled up. I almost had to get out of the gas going by the flag stand and that allowed Jimmy McCune to drive right past me. If I had it to do all over again, I would have chosen the bottom lane,” Blonde said.
An American Speed U.S. Nationals trophy will be up for grabs this weekend, for both Blonde and his competitors.
Luckily, Kalamazoo Speedway is a track he likes. “The way the car has been the last couple of years at Kalamazoo, we’ve been pretty stout. A win is definitely what we’re looking for as long as the driver does his part and keeps the tires under him,” Blonde said.
The American Speed U.S. Nationals will be a one-night event on Saturday. The Maxima Racing Oils Midwest Lights will also be in action, giving fans a double-header of winged asphalt sprint car racing. Also included will be the Ohio Wheelman Series, Midwest Compact Touring Series and MCR Dwarf Cars.
Saturday night’s complete racing program will be streamed live on SPEEDSPORT.tv.
In addition, the event will be taped delayed for broadcast at a later date through MAVTV/SPEED SPORT.