RIDGEWAY, VA :: Blake Stallings was one of the surprises who emerged with a top-five finish after last year’s Martinsville DuPont Credit Union (MDCU) 300 at Martinsville Speedway. This season, after scoring his first career Late Model Stock Car victory, Stallings hopes to better his fourth place finish from a year ago.
Stallings had competed semi-regularly at South Boston Speedway in the past. This year, Stallings ventured out to Ace Speedway where he scored his first career win on August 29th. With that victory behind him, at a track that shares some characteristics with Martinsville, Stallings feels even more confident this year.
“Ever since we left last year, I’ve been so pumped up about coming back,” Stallings said. “I think running Ace this year has helped out a lot because the corners are so similar. Coming back to this year, I’m really looking forward to it. I hope we can have the same luck this year, maybe gain a few positions and try our best.”
Last year’s fourth place finish in the biggest race of the year may have been seen as a breakthrough performance for Stallings, but 2014 can certainly be seen as a breakthrough season, one that Stallings would love to cap off with a grandfather clock.
“We’ve had several great runs this year. We won that race at Ace and had a couple top-five finishes up there. We’ve run South Boston some, haven’t been quite as strong up there. The competition’s always been so great at South Boston, you almost have to run week-to-week to be competitive here. So far, it’s been a really great year.”
Stallings’ focus is now directed at the remainder of the season and the big three – Martinsville, Southern National and Myrtle Beach.
“I hope momentum will really carry through for these last few big races and we’ll work on trying to win a championship next year.”
Stallings’ fourth place finish last year and his results this year certainly makes the Danville native a solid dark horse pick entering Sunday’s MDCU 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
