HAMPTON, ON – Following a top-5 finish in Sunset Speedway Super Late Model Series points in 2016, ‘The Crowd Pleaser’ Kelly Balson has confirmed his intentions to return to fulltime competition with the sophomore mini-series this summer.

However, despite his impressive finish in the hunt for the inaugural championship, Balson insists his team is far more concerned with ending their starts in victory lane than agonizing over their position in the standings.

“I’ve never been too big on racing for points with these cars,” explains the Hampton, ON native. “Our team is a lot more comfortable in treating these races like they’re five separate events. Our focus is unloading with the best car possible. We want to perform at our best and outrun some of the elite guys in the province. Those are our concerns. Where we are in the points standings doesn’t register with us”

Together with longtime team member Graham Flett and GTA Racing Design founder Graham Annis, Balson has worked diligently over three seasons spent within the Super Late Model ranks to quickly become a perennial contender regardless of what speedway his No. B10 competes at.

“The Grahams (Annis and Flett) have done an unbelievable job with this car as far as finding a setup that works,” offers the multi-time Peterborough Speedway champion. “It’s tough not to have confidence when you have guys like that working with you. I have all the faith in the world in my team. And, when you know you’re coming off the track to a couple of guys that understand what you want, it makes the whole experience easier”

“We’ve been hard at it on this car for months now,” adds Balson. “We want to win these races. We want to podium. We want to run at the front every time we have the car out of the trailer. And, to do that against this level of competition, you have to work for it. This sort’ve operation doesn’t get sorted out overnight”

When asked about his AJK Racing team’s decision to commit to the entirety of the Fast Eddie Racewear Super Late Model Series, the short track veteran pointed to the competition and the overall atmosphere as early influences for a repeat engagement.

“I love racing Super Late Models and I think Sunset has done a really good job with this mini-series,” says ‘The Crowd Pleaser’. “Our team enjoys the speedway itself, the roster is one of the best around and the races – so far – have been well organized. With that said, coming back in 2017 was a no-brainer for us. Our Sunset setup is as good now as it’s ever been and now it’s all about smoothing out the few rough spots that we have left.”

Kelly Balson’s 2017 program is made possible thanks to the support of London Recreational Racing, Cochrane Automotive, GTA Racing Design, Hampton General Store, Brandon’s Landscapes, ProWraps, Cabral Racing Promotions, Bennett Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC, Castrol, Brighton Speedway and B-Town Group.

The 2017 Fast Eddie Racewear Super Late Model Series will kick off on May 20th and 21st as part of the annual Spring Velocity.