After finishing 13th in her first Late Model Division race at Langley Speedway in April, Macy Causey earned her best finish in the division to date Saturday.
After a 10th-place finish in her first race of the day, Causey, the youngest female to race at Langley Speedway, followed up the performance with a fourth-place finish against some of the best racers in the area.
The finish is a far cry from Causey’s first races of the season in which she purposely tried to stay out of the main pack of racers while she acclimated to the speed of the races.
As the season has gone along, Causey has become more confident in her abilities as a driver and her ability to navigate her car with some of the other top Langley Speedway racers like track champion Danny Edwards.
She also received some friendly advice from a fellow racer, driver of the No. 2 car Matt Waltz, who helped her set up her car.
The combination of confidence, help from other drivers and spending more time getting hands-on with her car in the garage helped Causey develop a confidence in herself that was lacking at the beginning of the season.
“I think whenever I get in the front, I just work a lot harder and push the car to see what it can do,” Causey said. “When I start in the back, I let myself down and say the car isn’t good enough. Knowing that I have a car that can run up front gives me the confidence to [race toward the front of the pack].”
After starting the second race of the day in 10th place, Causey slowly worked her way toward the middle of the pack when a caution was declared.
On the restart, Causey opted to take the high side and make a sprint toward the front. Her strategy landed her in sixth place and, after seeing she could race with the front runners, Causey decided to continue pushing her car.
With three laps remaining in the race, Causey found herself sitting in third place with the two leaders in her sight. Her momentum was briefly cut short when a car spun out behind her, bringing out the yellow flag.
Causey was passed on the outside by a car taking the high side during the restart, a strategy she used earlier in the race. Three laps later, with the checkered flag waving, Causey crossed the finish line in fourth place – her best finish yet.
“It was definitely fulfilling,” Causey said of her first top-five finish in the Late Model Division at Langley Speedway.
Causey’s excitement with her finish was matched by her family watching from the skyboxes overlooking the track. Causey said her mother was receiving strange looks from the stands as she banged on the windows and cheered on her daughter from the skyboxes.
With a top-five finish under her belt, Causey hopes to close out her final four races of the season with more similar finishes.
“I think after Saturday night’s race, I’m hoping to get a win next,” she said. “If not, I want to get another top-five finish.”
