ALTAMAHAW, NC :: Austin Thaxton wasn’t planning on racing in the Mischa Sell Memorial at Ace Speedway. In fact, when he got to Ace, he was only planning on getting some track time at a track he’s never been at. The end result of Thaxton’s track time ended up being a memorable victory.
Thaxton, a regular at South Boston Speedway, went to Ace Speedway following a 39th place finish in the MDCU 300 at Martinsville Speedway. The intent was to turn laps at a track he’s not familiar with. Once Thaxton started turning laps, he realized the car was strong and elected to compete in the Mischa Sell Memorial.
“We really just kind of left from Martinsville and the guys told me I need to work on my racing so they said Ace was running so we put the crate motor in my old car and went there,” Thaxton explained. “We had a really good car. We really went there just to get some laps at a different track and realized we were pretty good so decided we were going to race.”
Thaxton entered the race and went on to lead wire-to-wire to score the victory, his second win of any kind this season.
“It was awesome,” Thaxton said of his victory. “This is probably going to be one of the more memorable wins I’ve got. I never had a car that good. We won races at South Boston but never had that good of a car so that’s pretty cool.”
The race itself also had special meaning for Thaxton. His father, Larry Thaxton, died from brain cancer. Austin dedicated the victory to his father.
“It was pretty special,” Thaxton remarked. “My dad had cancer and he died from it. It means a lot to me that someone other than me recognizes it.”
Thaxton is now looking ahead to the Autumn Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park on October 9th. If things go well at Southern National, Thaxton will also turn his attention to the Myrtle Beach 400 on October 23rd.
