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Rocket Hockett – Nothing Saves a Trip Like A Win!

(Bill W) April 7, 2010 – Staring at the prospects of a wasted trip to Ohio, “The Rocket” Jesse Hockett found redemption by winning the “No Way Out 40” at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, Indiana on Saturday night.  The race was not scheduled, but was necessary after a USAC Eldora cancellation forced the VKCC Motorsports #75 team back on the road. 

Track conditions were to blame for the cancellation at Eldora.  “That’s a place that I want to win real bad,” says Jesse of the famous high-banked oval.  “We went out there because we had the week off from ASCS.  We always run well there.  Once we got there, we knew it wasn’t happening.  The track wasn’t even close to being prepared right.” 

Jesse describes the track.  “It was soft and dusty and chunking out.  We didn’t think it was a good idea to race, but we had towed all the way out there.  If they had run, we would have too.  The right decision was made to cancel it, and the rain helped cancel on Saturday.” 

The “No Way Out 40” at North Vernon’s banked 3/8 mile oval could not have been named any better considering Jesse’s choices on Saturday.  “We headed to North Vernon,” he says.  “It was our second time there.  Fortunately, it paid pretty good money to win.  We ended up stopping there and making the trip count.” 

Things started well with group qualifying.  “We got off to a good start in qualifying,” says Jesse.  “They did it as a group and we were the fastest.  That put us on the pole of the heat, and we were able to win it.” 

Winning the fifth heat put the Warsaw, Missouri driver inside row three for the main event.  “We were set up for the end of the race,” says Jesse.  “Early, we were just kind of holding on.  We got passed by a few guys and were running ninth for a while.  We battled back from there, got aggressive, and got by some guys.” 

His surge continued, and he battled for position.  “We got to racing really hard for third with Casey Shuman,” says Jesse.  “We raced for five or six laps, and in the meantime, we were catching (Dave) Darland and (Jon) Stanbrough.  They were racing hard as well.  They may not have known there was rubber in the middle of the track, and Shuman and I ran them down pretty quick.” 

A late restart sealed the fate for the lead pair who made contact and took themselves out.  “I was able to get by Shuman right before a yellow came out late in the race,” says Jesse.  “On the restart, was when Darland and Stanbrough got together.  That put us up front, and we were able to win it.  That was a big swing, because we were looking at losing around $4,000 on a wasted trip to Eldora.” 

Jesse is thankful for the provider of his power under the hood.  “We picked up our Gary Stanton Mopar engine on the way out, and that thing was thumping all night long,” he says.  “I can’t say enough about the power that we get out of that engine.  I’m just excited about running it the rest of the year.” 

This week, the wings will go back on as Jesse will tackle Lone Star Speedway near Kilgore, Texas on Friday night, and the I-30 Speedway near Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday with the Lucas Oil ASCS Natonal Series.