#28 back to victory lane!

It's been a long time coming but the #28 has finally made it back to the winner's circle. After winning 5 times in 2008, the #28 Pepsi Max Chevy Impala SS has come out on top once again.

The day started with Wade Koens posting the fastest lap during qualifying with a 15.37 lap.

During the 50 lap main event, the #28 spun twice early but recovered and was able to hold off Kyle Pope's #72 late model for the victory.

Next race is September 10th in Roseburg and September 17th for the first back-to-back of the season. Should be interesting.

July 2nd Race Recap @ Roseburg

It was a great day for racing! 4th of July weekend. Fans packing the grandstands. One of my favorite sponsors...The Oregon State Fair was on site and we had a nice field of 16 late models!
During practice we saw Harlan Koens in his KRT#18 Amp Chevy Impala SS with the 6th fastest lap at 15.65 and Wade Koens in his KRT #28 Pepsi Max Chevy Impala with the 4th fastest lap at 15.56. A good start for both cars but we needed more speed.

Qualifying brought both KRT cars good runs. Harlan Koens placed 6th fastest with a 15.56 and Wade Koens nabbed his career best qualifying run at Roseburg posting the 2nd fast time of the day with a 15.33.
Between the fastest lap time by Kyle Pope at 15.22 and the 11th fastest lap time by Chris Oddo at 15.74, only 1/2 second separated these 11 cars!

After qualifying both KRT cars made their way through the parking lot and over to the main gate to visit with our friends from The Oregon State Fair at their display. Both KRT drivers spent about 1/2 an hour speaking with fans, handing out T-Shirts, pens, hats and other fun stuff and signing autographs. This is the 2nd year we have done this with The Oregon State fair folks and look forward to next year! Please make sure you visit the exciting Oregon State Fair in Salem this year and tell them Koens Racing Team sent ya! ;-) They are a fantastic sponsor and partner with KRT and their commitment to us does not go unnoticed or unappreciated!!

The trophy dash was uneventful for the #28 car. Keeping an eye on the prize at the end of the day, Wade Koens reduced his pace during this 4 lap race and finished 3rd.

The great expectations for both KRT cars on this day started to dwindle during the 8 lap heat race. Both cars began to struggle to reach optimum speeds, losing grip and relegating the #28 car to 5th and the #18 car to 7th in the 7 car field.

The 50 lap main event was sure to bring better results than the heat race did for both KRT cars...unfortunately it was more of the same. Harlan Koens lost all of his brakes in his #18 Amp Chevy and retired on lap 22. Wade Koens lost all of his grip after lap 25 and actually spun out going into turn 1 and was narrowly missed from the traffic behind him. The #28 Pepsi Max Chevy finished a disappointing 9th, one lap down. It is now known that the right rear tire on the #28 car was cut and losing air making it very difficult to keep up with the pack.

To view the incar camera video of this 50 lap race from Wade's #28 car, please click here.

Wade Koens missed the July 30th race due to prior obligations, so the upcoming race on August 27th at Roseburg will be his first since the July 2nd debacle. Harlan Koens was able to enter the July 30th race and went on to a 6th place finish in that 50 lap main event!

Both drivers at KRT are excited about the race on August 27th and look forward to bringing home a 1-2 finish for KRT!