Chad Finchum Victorious in Thursday Thunder at Atlanta Motor Speedway
The two biggest Legends Car series during the summer in the south are the Summer Shootout Series at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (NC) and the Thursday Thunder Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway (GA). Tennessee racer Chad Finchum is attempting to win both 10-round series titles, and after this past week with a seventh-place finish at LMS and a victory in Atlanta, he is well on his way towards his goal in the Legends Young Lions division.
First up this week was the action in North Carolina, where cautions plagued the Young Lions feature. The race was shortened due to time, which hurt Finchum’s chances at a victory.
“We started 12th right behind Evan Swilling,” said Finchum. “We had a plan that we were going to follow each other up through the field. We hooked up, but we didn’t have enough green-flag laps to get all the way up to the lead. We did get a seventh-place finish. Hopefully we can keep getting top-10 finishes and some top fives, and maybe a win in the future in our Embassy Suites Legends.”
After the Shootout events, Finchum and his team headed to Atlanta to compete in the Thursday Thunder events on Thursday after a Wednesday practice session. His extra time on the track paid off with a win.
“We went down to Atlanta and ended up practicing this time,” explained Finchum. “We were fast in practice and we had the car set up perfect. We got a bad draw for the heat, so we had to start in the back. We worked our way up and won the heat race.
“They inverted some spots for the feature, so instead of starting second, I started fifth, which was ok with me because it was on the preferred inside line. We drove from fifth to the lead. There was one caution during the race, but when we grabbed the lead, we never looked back.”
Finchum’s strong showing at both tracks has him listed as one of the favorites to win titles in his division, which is something he is striving towards.
“We are going for both championships. Hopefully we can keep digging and get both titles.”
The next events for Finchum and his team is on June 30th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the next round of the Summer Shootout Series, followed by the July 2nd Thursday Thunder Series events at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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