Kody Hartlaub Disappointed With Outcome At BAPS Motor Speedway But Made Big Gains Sunday
News Director 
Story By: A2DPR / KODY HARTLAUB RACING – YORK HAVEN, PA – Kody Hartlaub may have been disappointed with the outcome at BAPS Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon, but he was happy with the gains the team made the past week.
There were some notable changes to his program during the off-season, including the chassis and some key suspension components, so Hartlaub made a trip to BAPS on March 22nd for their Test and Tune night to shake it down. It was a productive night that led to some changes at the shop, which ultimately put the team in a better position when they unloaded Sunday afternoon.
Hartlaub’s season opener seemed to pick up where 2022 left off, with an unfriendly pill draw. He lined up 10th in the first of three heat races for the 29 cars on hand. Only the top six finishers would transfer directly to the A-main.
Making the cut didn’t look like it would be a problem for Hartlaub. He surged into 7th by the second circuit but his progress stalled there.
A bolt had come loose on the hydraulic cylinder mount, preventing Hartlaub from being able to adjust the car’s top wing from the cockpit. It was essential to make adjustments on the difficult daytime surface, so the East Berlin driver was left unable to make his car handle the way he needed it to and missed the transfer by one spot.
The B-main would have to be Hartlaub’s path to the feature but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Starting on the pole gave Hartlaub a chance to evaluate his car in clean air. In the heat race, he was buried in traffic and wrestling a wing issue.
Hartlaub would not be challenged from his starting spot on the pole of the 8-lap last chance race. He registered a 17.493 for his best lap of the event, which was quicker than any 358 sprint heat race winner’s best all afternoon. He and his team had clearly made progress dialing in the Brewer Home Improvements, Moose Blocks, Smith Titanium, SRR Engines, Siegel Racing, T&N Solutions, Inch & Co. Real Estate, Bigham Appraisals, Pretzel Boy, HAAS Shocks, C.H. Folk & Son Feeds, Chop Designs, Herr Electric, Kody Hartlaub Racing No.95.
Taking the green in the 20-lap A-main from the 19th starting spot, Hartlaub found forward progress difficult as the track took rubber. As the racing groove became narrower, Hartlaub navigated his way up to 14th by lap eleven. At that point he made the decision to call it a day, pull in and save his equipment. He was officially credited with a 24th place finish.
“Overall I am happy with the gains we made since testing Wednesday. When we unloaded it was a completely different package than what we showed up with to test. Just came down to being one of those tough days at the track from pill draw, to having a mechanical issue, to the difficult track surface.”, Hartlaub commented.
“I’m happy that all of that is behind us now and we can move on to Lincoln this week and really see where we are at.“
Kody will kick off his 2023 Lincoln Speedway season at their 358 sprint car opener on April 1st, where he will be aiming to improve on his impressive 2022 season that led to a 2nd place finish in the track’s championship points. Qualifying begins at 6pm Saturday evening.
