Becerra Goes 24th To First On The Coast
Austen Becerra (Photo by Jim DenHamer)
MILTON, Fla. – Unlikely? Perhaps.
Impossible? Not for Austen Becerra.
Becerra was incredible racing from last to start to first to finish Saturday night at Southern Raceway, winning his third Clash on the Coast for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds earlier in the week and heading to Carthage with a $2,500 stake, Illinois of the first Tour Point Fund.
“We put our heads down and did what we had to do,” said Becerra, who quickly worked his way through the field and passed Drew Janssen after a restart with four laps to go. “To win this win and three nights and to finish second the other day means a lot to our entire program.”
“Definitely, I will never forget the last race.”
Becerra had carried a two-point lead over Milton driver Joseph Joiner into Saturday’s show, finishing sixth in his run and then finishing second in the final “B” feature.
“We got run over in the heat but the car wasn’t very good anyway. The car wasn’t much better in B, but it worked out and we got in,” he said. “We changed a few things for the feature, went out and kept grinding and making things happen. We pulled a rabbit out of a hat.”
Pole starter Chase Rosebrugh led the first lap of the main event before dropping to the side of the rest of the field. The second running joiner moved into the lead for the restart, while by lap seven Becerra was already rolling on the top 10 in the top 10.
He was fourth when Janssen next took the lead out on track.
Becerra caught Derek Thompson second on lap 20 and Janssen first after a restart on lap 22. He would retire by the end of lap 25 and win ahead of Janssen, Thompson, 21St starting with Ryan Gilmore and Collin Thirlby.
“Early on in the race I wanted to pass as many cars as quickly as possible and hoped the warnings would come out when I needed them,” said Becerra. “When we got that late warning and I was second, I said to myself we had a chance to win this deal.”
“I was right.”
At the wheel of Jon and Joyce Fuller’s 2022 Lethal Chassis, Becerra collected his first $1,000 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational Qualifying Clash Check on the opening night of the tour at Northwest Florida Speedway. The 2022 Razor Chassis North Central Region Rookie of the Year finished second behind Joiner at Baker the next night and then swept at Milton on Friday and Saturday.
IMCA Modified veteran Peyton Taylor led and sponsored the inaugural tour, which featured nearly 60 riders from a dozen states.
The event was broadcast by the SPEED SPORT subsidiary IMCA.tv.
The end:
Feature (25 laps): 1st Austen Becerra; 2. Drew Janssen; 3. Derek Thompson; 4. Ryan Gilmore; 5.Collin Thirlby; 6. Dallon-Murty; 7.Travis Denning; 8. Jacob Campbell; 9.Britt Hartwick; 10. Drew Charlson; 11. Dennis Schoenfeld; 12. Ashton Wilkey; 13. Joseph Carpenter; 14. Lance Arneson; 15. Cayden Mitchell; 16.Todd Neiheiser; 17.Jesse Enterkin; 18. Spencer Hartwick; 19. Jeff Taylor; 20. Drake Findley; 21. Troy Schaberg; 22.Ryan Jenkins; 23. Chuck Sanders; 24. Chase Rosebrugh.