Indianapolis racing driver Stephen Cox returned to Ohio’s Midvale Speedway for the first time in two years on Saturday night. In his first outing with a new car, new team and a new pit crew, the STA-BIL Brand Fuel Stabilizer #21 was able to run solidly in the top five all night.
The Super Cup Stock Car Series made its annual visit to Midvale on August 10th, holding two 50-lap headline events. Crew chief Ben Ebeling and mechanic Dylan Mays wrenched on the car throughout practice and Cox, Midvale’s former track record holder, was able to nail down the fourth quickest qualifying lap of the night at 15.219 seconds.
The six-car re-draw placed Cox inside Row 2 for the start of the first main event. He quickly took the lead when series points leader Kevin Kromer got tangled with Super Cup regulars Jerod Brougher and Harvey Harrison, but was unable to maintain it for long. He was hit behind and spun in Turn 3 early in the event but fought his way back to fourth position at the checkered flag.
“I was really proud of my crew and thankful for their hard work,” Cox said. “We started a little behind the curve with a car that hadn’t been raced in a while, but Ben and Dylan worked miracles and had us running near the front all night. Mike Potter Racing supplied us with a great motor, probably the fastest stock car engine I’ve ever driven. And I was really grateful because we had about 16 guests with us in the reserved seating balcony. It was good to have a fast car and a respectable showing.”
The second main event on the twin-bill had Cox starting on the pole but dropping to fifth after re-starting on the outside lane following a caution flag. He ran in fifth for most of the event before slipping underneath the sliding #71 of Jerod Brougher on the final turn of the last lap for his second fourth place finish of the night.
Cox’s next event is the Super Cup divisional title round at Jennerstown Speedway on September 14th, followed by the series finale at Dominion Raceway in October and the 6th annual October Rush endurance sportscar race at Tulsa.