CONCORD, NC (WBTV) -
Saturday night's conclusion to the UARA-STARS City Chevrolet 150 at Concord Speedway was undoubtedly not what Dillon Bassett looked forward to as he climbed out the right side of his car moments after landing in the catchfence.
It was a scary sight to watch and a disastrous outcome for the Bassett Racing team, but most importantly 15-year-old Bassett walked away uninjured in one of the nastiest wrecks the series has witnessed.
Unlike the finish, Bassett's weekend started off on a promising note. Although Dillon battled an ill handling racecar in practice as he maneuvered around the tricky ½ mile racetrack, he was gaining a lot of valuable information. Bassett has seen the ¼ mile Concord track many times in career, collecting several bandolero victories, but this was his first race on the larger track.
In qualifying, Bassett was able to pick up some speed posting a 16.518 to start sixth. "I gave up a little time on my second lap, but those things will come with more time and experience. Sixth is a great spot for the race and I think we should be good," Bassett said post qualifying.
One of Bassett's pre-race predictions was few cautions. Although he missed that mark, as the field saw 12 caution periods that slowed them for over 60 laps, he was right about his car, and his team had him dialed in to head towards the front.
Bassett sat in seventh for the majority of the race and used what few race runs they had to move as high as third with 20 laps to go. The #44 Roof Shampoo Ford was strong, but Dillon wasn't able to get enough long green flag runs to capitalize.
On lap 147 the yellow flag waived again setting the field up for a green-white-checkered finish. Restarting fourth on the outside Bassett knew he would need a good restart to move forward. Dillon got that restart and coming through the dog-leg pulled to the outside of Sean Rayhall to grab the second position.
With no racetrack remaining on the outside of Rayhall, Bassett was forced onto the wall in turn three seeing asphalt through his driver's side window until flying into the catchfence between turns three and four. Bassett's car finally came to a stop in the grass outside the track after taking six poles and sections of fencing with him.
"There will always be two sides to every story. I'm going to have a different outlook on what went down then the other person, watch the video and make your own call. All we can focus on is moving on to the next race," commented Bassett on the incident.
This season has been about giving Dillon Bassett a good foundation and learning curve as he contends for the Rookie of the Year title. His wild ride will indeed be one for the memory book and Bassett was able to crack a smile and find some humor in the situation as he joked about giving people flying lessons.
In the shortest turn around this season, Kenyon Davidson and Kris Bradley will be in the shop extra hours these next three days putting the backup car together. Although Bassett Racing has multiple wins this season, their backup car has yet to appear in victory lane in its three races. Dillon Bassett hopes to change that and be the first to take it there on Friday evening when the UARA-STARS show up at Tri-County Motor Speedway.
Saturday night's conclusion to the UARA-STARS City Chevrolet 150 at Concord Speedway was undoubtedly not what Dillon Bassett looked forward to as he climbed out the right side of his car moments after landing in the catchfence.
It was a scary sight to watch and a disastrous outcome for the Bassett Racing team, but most importantly 15 year old Bassett walked away uninjured in one of the nastiest wrecks the series has witnessed.
Unlike the finish, Bassett's weekend started off on a promising note. Although Dillon battled an ill handling racecar in practice as he maneuvered around the tricky ½ mile racetrack, he was gaining a lot of valuable information. Bassett has seen the ¼ mile Concord track many times in career, collecting several bandolero victories, but this was his first race on the larger track.
In qualifying, Bassett was able to pick up some speed posting a 16.518 to start sixth. "I gave up a little time on my second lap, but those things will come with more time and experience. Sixth is a great spot for the race and I think we should be good," Bassett said post qualifying.
One of Bassett's pre-race predictions was few cautions. Although he missed that mark, as the field saw 12 caution periods that slowed them for over 60 laps, he was right about his car, and his team had him dialed in to head towards the front.
Bassett sat in seventh for the majority of the race and used what few race runs they had to move as high as third with 20 laps to go. The #44 Roof Shampoo Ford was strong, but Dillon wasn't able to get enough long green flag runs to capitalize.
On lap 147 the yellow flag waived again setting the field up for a green-white-checkered finish. Restarting fourth on the outside Bassett knew he would need a good restart to move forward. Dillon got that restart and coming through the dog-leg pulled to the outside of Sean Rayhall to grab the second position.
With no racetrack remaining on the outside of Rayhall, Bassett was forced onto the wall in turn three seeing asphalt through his driver's side window until flying into the catchfence between turns three and four. Bassett's car finally came to a stop in the grass outside the track after taking six poles and sections of fencing with him.
"There will always be two sides to every story. I'm going to have a different outlook on what went down then the other person, watch the video and make your own call. All we can focus on is moving on to the next race," commented Bassett on the incident.
This season has been about giving Dillon Bassett a good foundation and learning curve as he contends for the Rookie of the Year title. His wild ride will indeed be one for the memory book and Bassett was able to crack a smile and find some humor in the situation as he joked about giving people flying lessons.
In the shortest turn around this season, Kenyon Davidson and Kris Bradley will be in the shop extra hours these next three days putting the backup car together. Although Bassett Racing has multiple wins this season, their backup car has yet to appear in victory lane in its three races. Dillon Bassett hopes to change that and be the first to take it there on Friday evening when the UARA-STARS show up at Tri-County Motor Speedway.
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