Another young driver has thrown his hat into the Valenti Modified Racing Series ring. Seventeen year old Chase Dowling made a visit to the Seekonk Speedway on Sat. 6/4 for the MRS 100. The Roxbury,CT, 2015 Sunoco rookie of the year on the Whelen modified tour has wanted to try an MRS event and when car owner Bob Katon offered Dowling the opportunity, Chase thought it was a great idea. "I didn't sit in this car until this morning to adjust the belts, and after we arrived we had to make a couple of modifications to the car to pass the MRS inspection". Dowling amassed 23 wins in the World Karting Assoc. between 2007-2009 taking down 4 national championships along the way before moving into the SK lites where he earned 7 wins in 2013 claiming rookie of the year and adding one more victory in 2014. Dowling added " It's not only the first time in this car, its also the first time at this track. We only had one practice round then the heat race. It's a good learning experience because we'll be here later with the Whelen tour." In his rookie year (2015) with the Whelen tour Dowling ran 15 times with an impressive 1 top 5 and 8 top 10 finishes ranking him 9th in the final standings. In 2016 in 4 starts he had 1 top 10. "Racing is racing and the more seat time the better. The MRS is a real good series with lots of good drivers and its good competition. I would like to run more MRS races, I like the travel and of course the more races the better for me, It's up to Bob but I'm all for it." Starting 14th Dowling battled the MRS regulars eventually moving into the top 5 at the halfway mark and eventually finishing 6th. It was an outstanding run. "I started 14th and I tried to save tires and get the feel for the car, I tried different lines managing my equipment and I gave as much feedback to my crew for what we needed. I learned a lot tonight and had fun, I think the guys had fun too."
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