Hendersonville, N.C. (11/27/11) –Sixteen-year-old Joey Herques joined the UARA-STARS with little driving experience and managed to pull off an eight place position in the 2011 Championship Points.
It all started for Herques when he and his dad were racing go karts around the house just a few years back. He went from go karts to legends, and from legends to limiteds within the past four years. Herques ran his first full year with the UARA-STARS and counts it as a success.
“All in all we didn’t do to too bad for finishing eighth. I’ve realized that whenever you start off something new, it’s going to be a struggle. We were looking forward to the year being a learning step,” says young Herques. “Looking back on the year, finishing eighth with the kind of year we had, not finishing races and blowing a motor, we actually did pretty well. I would consider this year a win for us because we made it through and finished in the top ten in points.”
Although Herques is still looking to clinch that first UARA win, he won numerous awards throughout the season. His first award of the season was during his first visit to Rockingham Speedway. He won the Holley Performer award for gaining eight positions throughout the race. His 8th place finish also earned him Pro-Fabrication 8th place award. Other awards included DJ Safety 9th place at Lonesome Pine, and ARBodies Hard Luck Award during his series’ second visit to Newport. To finish off the year, Herques won WP Racing Shocks 11th place award at series closer at Rockingham.
With such a short racing career, Herques had a lot of opportunities to learn and try new things.
“Qualifying on stickers and the length of the races was something we had to get used to. The only time I’ve ever qualified before was when I ran limiteds on scuffed tires,” rookie Herques learned. “Running 150 laps was also a stretch for us. I was only used to running 50 laps, and occasionally the longest being 80 or 100 laps.”
Turning the page into a new season, Herques would not have had such a successful rookie year without a couple of people to thank.
“I definitely need to thank my dad for all the sacrifices he makes so that I could be here and race. I also wanted to say a big thanks to my whole team. My guys did a great job this year, fixing everything and getting things ready for the next race.”
Now with the experience of a late model, Herques is looking to get more experience through other series while also running with UARA-STARS for the 2012 season.
“So far plans of next year look like doing some ARCA runs, on the tracks that I can next year (tracks without an 18-year-old age limit) and to fill in the gaps with UARA races.
For more info visit www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833
