“We’re just here to have fun when we run this deal.” driver Jordan Goldesberry said of the Knoxville Nationals event. “Everyone’s equipment is so equal here that it’s tough to compete with the local drivers and the Outlaws and everyone else, but it definitely felt good to really have some speed on Saturday and move forward in both features.”
Along with action on track all week long, Goldesberry and the team showcased the Rockstar Energy Drink #65 at the HyVee Fast ‘n Fresh in both Altoona, IA on Tuesday night and the HyVee across from the Knoxville Raceway on Thursday.
“We’re really lucky to work with a great partner like Rockstar Energy and showcase the car and their product at these meet and greets.” Goldesberry said of the appearances. “It’s always fun interacting with fans and promoting our partners that much more. We had great turnouts both days and had a great time!”
Goldesberry and the Rockstar Energy Drink #65 team had an up and down week up until Championship Saturday, with a decent run on their prelim night, qualifying for the night’s B Feature, but Friday’s Hard Knox night was a write off for the 2022 IRA Champion.
“I felt like we were okay on our prelim night, but Friday we just got buried in qualifying and when you do that here it really sets you back.” Goldesberry said. “Unfortunately that set us up deep in the E Main on Saturday, so the mindset after that was just attack and try to get as much as we could.”
Saturday’s E Main saw the Springfield, IL native start in the 15th position with only the top 9 cars moving onto the D Main. Goldesberry survived a couple early red and yellow flags and advanced up to the 12th position, needing 3 spots to advance. On a late restart, the Rockstar Energy Drink driver went to work. Passing Landon Hansen and R.J. Johnson in quick succession. With one lap to go, Goldesberry was all over the back of Cole Mincer for the final transfer spot and made the move in spectacular fashion to punch his ticket to the D Feature.
After a quick turnaround in the pits, Goldesberry rolled out 24th for the D Main. Almost immediately, the #65 began picking off cars. Rocketing by the likes of Austin Bishop, Harli White, Chase Dietz and McKenna Haase, it appeared a Top 10 finish or maybe more was possible. However, it all came to a grinding halt as Goldesberry encountered a brake failure at one of the fastest tracks in the country and pulled his car to a stop in turn 4 of the Knoxville Raceway.
“It’s not worth the risk of wrecking myself or others in that situation.” Goldesberry said of the retirement. “This place is so fast, and you get such huge runs on other cars, you need the brakes to check up and just to make the corner sometimes.”
Although the DNF stung in the D Main, Goldesberry was very pleased with the team’s rebound after Friday and the speed they showed at the biggest sprint car event in the world.
“That was easily the best I’ve ever felt here.” The Springfield, IL driver stated. “We found so much speed on Saturday. It’s obviously a shame for it to end like it did, but we passed a lot of cars in both features, and a lot of those cars have a ton of laps around this place. It felt good to actually be able to go out and move forward. This is great momentum to take into the rest of our year.”
The team then refocused to the IRA Sprints schedule with a doubleheader at Wilmot Raceway and Angell Park Speedway. While the highlight of Saturday’s event at Wilmot was simply making the Roger Iles Tribute A Main, Goldesberry provided an exciting charge through the field on Sunday at Angell Park’s annual Corn Fest celebration.
Goldesberry started Sunday’s A Main in 18th, and charged through the field quickly, passing many heavy-hitting cars and drivers en route to a 9th place finish.
“We buried ourselves in qualifying both nights.” Goldesberry admitted. “On Sunday though we were able to get the car better for the A Main and passed a ton of good cars. I really feel good about our feature speed, we just need to figure out the qualifying issues to get back up front consistently.”
The Rockstar Energy Drink #65 has a busy month ahead, with three separate IRA Sprints doubleheader weekends on tap. First up is this Friday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA, and Saturday for the series’ first ever appearance at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. Both events will be broadcast live on FloRacing.
Jordan Goldesberry Racing thanks their 2023 partners for their support this season!
Rockstar Energy Drink
Modern Paving and Scrap
Rhine Auto-Plymouth, WI
FK Rod Ends
Wix Filters
Keizer Wheels
King Racing Products
Schure Built Suspensions
Collision Concepts
HRP-Hepfner Racing Products
Capital City Powder Coating
Box3 Media
FULL RESULTS: 8/19 w/IRA Sprints at Wilmot Raceway
41 cars
Qualifying: 10th out of 21 cars in Flight A
Heat: S/5th, F/5th
Feature: S/17th, F/15th
8/20 w/IRA Sprints at Angell Park Speedway
34 cars
Qualifying: 13th out of 17 cars in Flight B
Heat: S/7th, F/5th
Feature: S/18th, F/9th
NEXT RACE: 8/25 w/IRA Sprints at 34 Raceway
SEASON STATS
Races: 24
Feature Starts: 22
Top 10’s: 13
Top 5’s: 6
Feature Wins: 4
Dash/Re-Draw Appearances: 12
IRA POINT STANDINGS
1st-Brenham Crouch-2752
2nd-Jordan Goldesberry-2508
3rd-Travis Arenz-2468
4th-Russel Borland-2407
5th-Scotty Neitzel-2291
Box3 Media/Roy Ophime Photos
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