Caden Comes Out of Tricky Weekend with a Solid Finish

PELHAM, AL - After five consecutive rain outs, Caden traveled up to Brasstown, NC and then to Rome, GA where the Spring Nationals Series finally got some races in.

On Friday, May 5th, the Mullinax Racing team arrived at Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, North Carolina, for the next round of the Schaeffer's Oil Spring Nationals Series. Rain was predicted to be in the forecast, but the track believed that it would not be much and that the race would go off without a hitch.

Caden Mullinax entered this weekend still fifth in the points and looked to get a good result to keep his position. This would also be the second race in his new Black Diamond, with the last one being his nineth place finish at East Alabama.

Twenty-Six cars signed in at Tri-County for the $7,553 to win race and Caden was to compete in the first group of qualifying and heat races. After hotlaps he was listed as fifth fastest in his group of thirteen cars and after a gear change was ready for his qualifying laps.

Caden was the third car to take the track and scraped the wall on his first lap, losing precious time. On his second lap Caden entered turn three and the engine shut off just long enough for his Black Diamond to back into the wall and kill his second lap all together.

This would force Caden to run in the B-Main to determine where he would start in the feature event. After starting fourth, Caden quickly advanced forward in the field and finished a very good third, securing the fifteenth starting spot.

When the green flag dropped, Caden picked up a quick position and seemed as if he was on his way to a very good finish, but smoke appeared out of the back of the car. By lap twelve the smoke began to worsen, and it was clear that Caden was having motor issues which prompted him to pull in on lap nineteen.

Even though he did not finish, Caden still ended up sixteenth which helps nullify the damage done to his points standings. When the team looked at the motor, they determined that the car was not able to race at Rome and that the backup car would have to be prepared.

The next day at Rome Caden and his team had to compete in the backup car, the same car that they started the season out in. With it, the team understood that they would be underpowered, but they hoped that the dry slick track would negate some of the other team's advantages.

The team was fairly confident after hotlaps and send Caden back out for qualifying where he would put down a very respectable 15.1 second lap, good enough for fourteenth. When Caden came back into the pits he was informed that he was apparently too light at the scales and was forced to start on the rear for the heat races.

This was greatly protested by Caden and the team who knew that the car was not in fact light and that there had to be a miscommunication somewhere. Nonetheless, Caden started heat race number one in the back and proceeded to advance his way up to fourth, giving himself a decent starting position.

After news came down that Caden was light again an investigation by the Spring Nationals Series began to determine what the truth was. They found that the track officials had mistaken Hayden Cowen's blue 214 as Caden's M2 and had given the penalty to the wrong driver. Caden's starting position was restored.

Caden got off to another good start in the fifty-three lap feature event and after a lucky caution kept him on the lead lap, he was in fourteenth. As the race resumed, Dale McDowel pulled away from the other leaders and quickly made his way lapping much of field.

Caden fought hard against his points rivals Colt McCoy and Hayden Cowen during the race, but due to tires, he could not hold off the 187 of McCoy. Caden would finish the race in fifteenth but still ahead of fellow rookie, Hayden Cowen.

Overall, the team saw the weekend as a success with many trials. Now the team looks forward to the last weekend of the Spring Nationals Series in late May where they will take on three tracks in three days.

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