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| Senoia, Georgia driver Josh Hicks is making a name for himself on the Gulf Coast after sweeping Pro Truck features at Pensacola and Mobile over the weekend. From March 29, 2019 (Daniel Vining/PixelatedSPEED) |
By: Daniel Vining, Twitter: @danielvining
PENSACOLA, Florida (April 3, 2019) -- Josh Hicks has started his 2019 racing campaign in the same manner he ended 2018… parking a Pro Truck in victory lane. After winning the Pro Truck portion of the Snowball Derby in December, Hicks once again grabbed the checkered flag in the regular season openers at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida and at Mobile International Speedway in Irvington, Alabama.
In Pensacola, the driver from Senoia, Georgia racked up his second win, and afterward, remarked about how enjoyable it is racing at Five Flags Speedway.
“It’s feels pretty good,” he said. “I’ve got a little streak going… I’m two for two at Pensacola. I really enjoy the track. Turns one and two are completely different the three and four so it kind of spices it up a little bit, makes it interesting. I really like the whole track in general.”
Hicks needed only seven laps to find the lead, passing polesitter Brandon Burks before checking out to a convincing win.
“It was fun riding behind him, seeing what he was doing and all,” he said. “I knew we had a really good truck at the beginning of the race. I just basically just waited patiently until he screwed up a little bit and then I got underneath him and then I just ran my race. We got a little tight at the end, but I think next time we race there we’ll have it figured out.”
Hicks first performance at Five Flags Speedway came in the Pro Truck feature during the 51st Annual Snowball Derby. That race came a week later than initially scheduled due to persistent inclement weather on the original date. When the time came, Hicks dove low on leader Steven Davis in turn one and came away with the lead coming out of turn two with three laps remaining in the 50 lap event en-route to a breakout win.
After winning on March 29th, Hicks compared the two experiences.
“I wasn’t freezing my butt off this time I can tell you that,” laughed Hicks. “I drove about the same line… it was a different truck but I drove it about the same way. I did learn some things riding behind the 95 truck (of Davis). He probably doesn’t know but he taught me some things when I was running second behind him and I applied some of those things to this race.”
At Mobile, Hicks had to contend with defending Mobile Speedway Pro Truck Champ Andrew Johnson. Hicks chased down Johnson after the pair got passed Brian Wiemer. On lap 18, Hicks rubbed his way passed Johnson on the frontstretch, completing the pass going into turn one. From there, Hicks set sail and cruised to his first win at Mobile, second on the weekend, and third in a row in a Pro Truck.
“I went really good,” said Hicks. “I don’t know how many races I’ve had here but I've really wanted to win. I don’t want to come to a track and struggle… I'd like to win at every track that I go to eventually. Andrew had some short run speed for sure because I was struggling to keep up with him for about the first five laps after a restart. After that five laps I’d start to reel him in and he seemed to wash up coming into the corners and once I got by him I was able to run my own line in some clean air and just focus on getting to the finish.”
With the wins, Hicks is the early points leader in both Pro Truck divisions.
“It’s a very good start,” he said. “I can’t thank Curt Britt and his guys enough because they give me an excellent truck to race with every single race. I wouldn’t want to be racing with anybody else right now.”
Team owner Curt Britt was quick to share his thoughts about Hick’s talent and performance thus far.
“Josh is a natural talent and possess many qualities that can not be taught,” said Britt. “He has a natural seat of the pants feel for a race car.”
Hicks got his first laps in a Pro Truck at Mobile thanks to an opportunity this time last year from long time Mobile area racer John Thompson. In his efforts with Thompson, Hicks enjoyed modest, yet promising success.
“He was driving for Grant Thompson Racing, racing for John Thompson,” Britt told PixelatedSPEED. “With Grant (John’s 13 year old son) coming up John didn’t feel he could give both trucks 100% so him and I talked and he asked about my thoughts about giving Josh a try. This was back last summer in August so, Josh came to Pensacola to test the trucks and we made a deal for the derby and beyond.”
Thompson added his thoughts about Hicks in a post celebrating the weekend’s accomplishments.
“I am very proud of Josh's success and the young man he is,” said Thompson. “The door of opportunity opened for Josh because he made good choices on the race track. I am sure Josh has a bright future on and off the race track.”
That future includes returning to Mobile International Speedway this upcoming Saturday, April 6th, as the Pro Truck Division points leader. The Pro Trucks will race in a program alongside Outlaw Stocks, Sportsman, and Pure Stocks. Of note for this weekend, the Pro Truck Division will race their feature using the “Black Flag Racing” format, wherein the last truck in the field each lap will be blag flagged and eliminated from the race until only two trucks are left standing, setting up a sprint to the finish among the final duo.
With lowered ticket prices for 2019, and increased focus on the local divisions, Mobile Speedway is set to give fans a very entertaining show all year long. Grandstands open up at 5:00 PM and racing starts at 7:00 PM. For more information, check out the Mobile Speedway Facebook Page, or head over the track’s website at http://mobilespeedway.net.
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