Bassett Tops Regulars For Bobby Isaac Memorial Victory

Ronnie Bassett, Jr. topped several Hickory Motor Speedway regulars to score the victory Saturday night in the 36th annual Bobby Isaac Memorial. Photo by Sherri Stearns

Ronnie Bassett, Jr. made it two for two in his NASCAR Whelen All-American Series starts at Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC by claiming the checkered flag in the 36^th annual Bobby Isaac Memorial in front of a packed house. To get there, he and his Bassett Racing team had several obstacles to overcome.

The team was scheduled to receive their motor Wednesday, but Thursday they found out their motor could not get complete, so they were forced to call off their plans. On Friday at 5 PM, as teams were already on track practicing, they made their way to TDR after Mike Dillon told them they had a Chevy crate motor available.

Thanks to some extra help, the team got the car setup around 3 AM and showed up at Hickory six hours later. They were going to be limited on practice time after missing the long Friday session, and didn’t have a strong foundation to work off of as their UARA set-ups do not conform to the NWAAS rulebook.

They knew it was going to be a challenge as most teams were Hickory regulars, but the team was shocked and pleased when Bassett took the track for practice.  They felt they had a good racecar and after making very few changes were able to cut the final practice short.

Unlike UARA, NWAAS rules allow the teams to make adjustments to the cars after qualifying. This allowed them to set up the car specifically for Bassett’s two lap run to ensure a good spot in the 34 car field. Bassett posted a 15.301 giving him the seventh spot on the grid, less than one-tenth off pole time.

When the race got underway, Bassett dropped as far back as 12^th but remained inside the top ten for the majority of the race. The field was slowed by six caution periods and restarts proved to be somewhat challenging since lap cars fell in line, making it hard to gain track position and forcing drivers to be cautious.

About halfway through Bassett informed his team they had a great racecar and he was just biding his time.  He worked his way through the field and within 25 laps to go was in the top five. When the final caution waived with 15 to go Bassett found himself fourth behind three Hickory regulars. He gradually picked them off one by one and on lap 147 took the lead from Josh Wimbish and set sail to put his 04 Bassett Gutters and More machine in victory lane.

“I really like Hickory,” said Bassett.  “It’s a rough track, but that means tire wear factors in. I like when strategy mixes in with on track action because that is something we really excel at as a team. I cannot thank my guys enough for their hard work and Mike Dillon for allowing us to run their motor.”

Bassett also likes Hickory because it has a lot of history and the young driver is beginning to write some history of his own on the track. He has gone three for three in his last three starts at the historic track, one UARA and two NWAAS victories. All three have special meaning for different reasons. His win in the Dwight Huffman Memorial last season was his first NWAAS start with Lawson and Smith, and their UARA win was the first event of the season as well as their first under the new Bassett Racing banner.

But this win for Bassett Jr. is definitely one he will take with him as he exited his familiar UARA territory and it is nothing short of spectacular how the team managed to pull it together to attend a race that seemed it wasn’t meant to be two days prior.

Hickory Motor Speedway – Hickory, NC
Bobby Isaac Memorial – Sept. 1, 2012