Hansen to Debut New Ride at Kern County Raceway’s October Classic

Jace Hansen has been looking forward to the weekend of October 24th and 25th for nearly a year. He had hoped the occasion would have occurred earlier, but the driver from Greeley, CO is finally ready to rejoin the short track Super Late Model wars. The 31st edition of the October Classic and the “JM Environmental Inc. Wild West Shootout Round 3 – Boogie Man 127 presented by KHI Management” for the Spears Srl Southwest Tour Series at Kern County Raceway, will be that anticipated return. The 2019 SRL Rookie-of-the-Year Contender will make his 2020 debut with a shiny new bullet in the chamber.

“We decided at the end of the year that we needed to re-group on our program, if we wanted to continue running these tour races. After talking with several people, and competitors, Jim (Egli) decided to purchase a car from Rowdy Manufacturing.”

Hansen participated in his first full season in the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series in 2019. Prior to his full-time SRL effort, he was the championship runner-up at Colorado National Speedway (CNS) in 2016 and 2017 and had six Super Late Model victories at the 1/3-mile facility. He also possesses a Super Late Model win at Tucson Speedway while finishing fourth in the 2019 “Chilly Willy 150”. In addition, he has driven up the West Coast and scored a top-10 effort in his first trip to Evergreen Speedway, and the 2018 Summer Showdown. 

But his 2019 Rookie effort in the SRL was his first attempt at a touring series title. The team started strong but finished the season 11th in the championship standings. Hansen was in contention for the Rookie-of-the-Year title until late in the season, when an even more important event occurred on October Classic weekend.

“Last year we decided to pull the trigger on running a few SRL races”, Hansen recalled. “Our first race was at Irwindale, where we finished sixth. We were very pleased with those results, as it was our first time to the facility. After that we decided to run a few more races, and all of a sudden, we found ourselves leading the ROTY points chase. Once we decided to chase the ROTY title, our results started to decline unfortunately. Then during the weekend of the October Classic, my wife was due to deliver our daughter at any moment, so the team decided to miss that race to insure I was there to meet my first born!”

Hansen did return for the season finale “Retro Custom Metals 150” at the LVMS Bullring and Dirt Track, but he finished a disappointing 28th, completing only 32 laps with clutch issues. Therefore, Hansen has only sat behind the wheel of a Super Late Model, in competition, for 32 laps in the last 13 months. It is an issue he is aware of, but hopes it will be like riding a bike, and he will get right back on with minimum effort.

“Being away from the wheel for almost a year is really going to have its setbacks” Hansen admitted. “It will take a few laps to get back into the swing of things, no doubt. But I have been fortunate to turn some laps, and test a little bit in my fellow competitors cars here at home. I’m hoping I can knock the dust off quickly!!”

Given his limited experience, as of late, Hansen still has the same goals and expectations that have characterized his racing career. He expects to run up front, and challenge for the win. That is especially true with the steps the team has taken to improve the program.

“We are coming to Kern with the same goal we always have when we go to the racetrack, to be battling for a win”, Hansen asserted. “I really think the steps Jim Egli has taken over the long off season are going to greatly improve our performance on and off the track, at these big races. Cody Glick will be out to help us debut this new hot rod, and I couldn’t be more excited to see how we perform out there and even more excited to get back behind the wheel of one of these race cars!”

The CNS Grand American Modified and Legends Champion is looking forward to returning to the SRL at the October Classic. The efforts of the team owner, crew, sponsors, and car builder is very much appreciated by the talented racer.

“I have to give a huge thank you to Daun and Jim Egli”, Hansen stated. “Jim has put a lot of time and money into improving our program, to run with these big teams. Also, I would like to thank everyone at Rowdy Manufacturing for building such a beautiful piece for us. I would like to thank Doug Detienne and West Greeley Self Storage for jumping on board to help us out while we are at Kern as well!”

The “JM Environmental Inc. Wild West Shootout Round 3 – Boogie Man 127 presented by KHI Management Inc.” will be Round #7 of the nine-race SPEARS Southwest Tour Series schedule. The event will pay $5,027 to win. $1,000 will be paid out to the leader on lap 27 from JM Environmental. $500 will be paid at the halfway mark, thanks to Kendall Peters with AKM Maintenance. The Performance Friction Brakes Zero Drag Fast Time Award will also payout another $500 with help from JM Environmental. The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series will be joined by the Spears Modified Series, ARCA Menards Pro Series West, Sigma Performance Services Pro Late Models and Street Stocks, for a huge weekend of racing. The Pro Late Models and Street Stocks will compete on both Saturday and Sunday, with 60 and 40 lap features, respectively.

For those unable to attend, the event will be shown live at www.SpearsRacing.TV. The Spears Southwest Tour Series will be featured on the live broadcast, along with the Spears Modifieds, Pro Late Models and the Street Stocks. Saturday’s broadcast will begin at approximately 3:30 pm (PST) and capture the final practice sessions for the Spears Modifieds and Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series. The Street Stock and Sigma Performance Services Pro Late Model Features will follow. Sunday will capture the Spears SRL Southwest Tour, Spears Modified, Sigma Performance Services Pro Late Model and Street Stock Feature events. The SRL and SPEARS Modified events will also be shown on MAVTV at a date to be determined later.

Celebrating its twentieth season in 2020, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series…Where the Champions Race”.