What appears likely to be Mike Darne’s final Martinsville Speedway race will be one of his most memorable performances.
Darne struggled for much of the weekend and had to race his way into the feature race through the Last Chance Qualifier, but Darne’s car came to life when it mattered. He raced his way from the 36th starting position to finish in the sixth position in Sunday’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
“We really weren’t really good at all,” Darne said. “We got in the race, started burning fuel off and got better and better. It worried me to death when we filled up with fuel that I was going to go way tight but we made some big changes right there with 25 to go and it worked out.”
The changes paid off. Darne continued to methodically race his way to the front of the pack. Darne was all smiles after the race, but had one wish after the race.
“I wish we had more laps because we were coming,” Darne remarked. “Just ran out of time.”
Darne won the championship at Old Dominion Speedway in 2003 and has been a factor in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 before, but he has not been racing as much in frequent years. Instead, he spends most of his days preparing Late Models and Super Late Models for other racers.
“I haven’t run a whole lot with taking care of guy’s cars for them and those guys did a great job for my company all year long,” Darne explained. “This is one that I wanted to do and they all understood. This will be my last one but I’m glad we could bring it home for our last one.”
Now, Darne is looking ahead to the rest of the season which could include a start in the Myrtle Beach 400.
“We might run the Super at the Thanksgiving Classic,” Darne said of his remaining 2016 plans. “Might go to Myrtle Beach but there’s probably not a whole lot more of these Late Model Stock races.”
Darne’s come from behind performance was one of the many stories that made up the 2016 ValleyStar Credit Union 300, a race that will be remembered by everyone involved.
