AJ Frank Claims His First Win in CARS Pro Cup at Hickory

AJ Frank Grabs His First Pro Cup win in 85 Starts

A.J. Frank would have surely loved to get his first Pro Cup win well before his 85th start in the series, but his trip to Victory Lane at Hickory Motor Speedway could not have been any sweeter. Of those 85 starts, the Blufton, SC driver had 15 races where he was close enough to taste victory but had to settle for a second or third place result. When he passed Caleb Holman for the lead with 16 laps to go at Hickory, that first win loomed large.

Frank : “I’m at a loss for words. I’ve had so many excuses for years for not winning one – near misses and spin-outs.  You know I took the day a little bit differently; I was real calm.  I have to thank my new spotter, Shawn Treadway.  He was with Brad Rogers earlier in the year and he came on board with us here.  We just tried to stay calm and he kept me calm all race.  We didn’t have the best car at the beginning of the race.  I tell you, my guys on pit road gave me a heckuva stop today.  They made the right adjustments and the car was the best when it needed to be – right there at the end.  And that’s what we kept telling ourselves – we gotta be there at the end and that’s the only thing we lacked over the years.  We’d come up short and maybe use up our stuff.  You know, finally, everything just fell into place for us. 

It was one of those nights. I feel bad about spinning out the 23 [J.P. Morgan], but the 56 [Cale Conley] carried me in there and lifted me up and pushed me into him.  So I want to apologize to them, JP and the guys.  You know they always work hard.  As clean as he ran me, that was definitely not intentional.  I’m at a loss for words.  Of course, I want to thank all my sponsors, and Danny, Artie and Birdy, this whole team, for giving me this opportunity.  You know I wouldn’t even have a chance to be here tonight without them.”

Do you like number coincidences? Frank’s win in car #6 was only the third win in Pro Cup history for that car number. The other two wins came at South Boston Speedway in April of 2008 with Danny Abold, Frank’s car owner, driving the car and then at Hickory Motor Speedway in August of 2008 with Hunter Robbins behind the wheel for what was also his first Pro Cup win!

Unofficial Results:

1. ) AJ Frank
2.) Blake Jones
3.) Jeff Agnew
4.) Caleb Holman
5.) Cale Conley
6.) JP Morgan
7.) Brad Rogers
8.) Mike Williams
9.) Forrest Reynolds
10.) Ronnie Souders Jr
11.) Tyler Young
12.) Larry Barrett
13.) Damian Jenks

14.) Mike Kurkowski