OCALA, Fla. – Emerson Axsom, turning his first laps in a sprint car at Bubba Raceway Park, turned the fastest lap of all to best the field of 43 drivers in Wednesday night’s USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship practice.
The three-hour session is the first, and final, preparation for teams and drivers before the beginning of Winter Dirt Games XIII featuring three consecutive nights of full programs for the series at the three-eighths-mile D-shaped track.
The Franklin, Ind., native and series Rookie of the Year candidate set the quickest single lap during the second of six sessions with a time of 13.925 seconds, which translates to a 96.948 mph average in his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/Driven2SaveLives – ZMax Race Products/Spike/Kistler Chevy.
Axsom does have prior experience at Bubba’s with four USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship starts, which includes a best of 4th last Saturday. The Clauson Marshall Newman sprinter, meanwhile, has won twice at Bubba’s with driver Tyler Courtney, both in 2018.
Buddy Kofoid, making his sprint car debut for Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, timed in second at 13.946. Justin Grant, who swept both midget races at Bubba Raceway Park last weekend, was third at 13.973. Jason McDougal was fourth at 14.085 while Jake Swanson rounded out the top-five at 14.086.
Only one incident occurred with about an hour remaining in the three-hour practice. Eddie Vancil spun sideways at the entry to turn one. The trailing cars driven by Brandon Mattox and Dustin Clark were both collected and stopped. Clark also made slight contact with the outside wall. All contact appeared relatively minor and all three cars were pushed back to the pit area.
Three full nights of USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship racing are on tap, Feb. 17-19, at Bubba Raceway Park. Racers will be chasing a $5,000 winner’s share on the first two nights while Saturday’s finale will reward the victor with $10,000.