In two weeks, Jade Hastings will graduate from high school.
The books will be put aside for a while but the learning will continue for the Grand Forks sprint car driver.
“Every time I’m in the car I learn something,” said Hastings. “You learn something every lap.”
His competitors also are learning that the third-year driver quickly is making his way toward the front of the pack as he’ll be back in his No. 8 sprint Friday at River Cities Speedway.
Last week at the Devils Lake Speedway, Hastings started last in the 22-car feature before working his way to second in the closing laps.
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But he learned another lesson after spinning out when he tried to pass a lapped car.
“I was going for a slide job on a lapped car in Turns 3 and 4,” he said. “I should have waited a lap. I misjudged it.”
When he spun, he was in second place and was gaining on leader and eventual winner Wade Nygaard.
Hastings was in 11th place on the restart and in two laps worked his way up to fifth, where he finished.
“We should have finished better,” said Hastings. “But it still was a confidence-booster.”
Hastings is one of the up-and-coming young drivers in the sprint field at RCS. Other younger drivers include Jordan Adams, Trent Stengl, Jack Croaker and Jackson Moffett.
Adams finished second in the NOSA feature last week at Devils Lake while Stengl finished third.
For Hastings, his goals this season haven’t changed.
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He’d like to finish in the top five in NOSA and RCS season points and “I’d like to get my first feature win out of the way,” he said.
He’ll be racing Friday at RCS, Saturday night at the Badlands Motor Speedway near Sioux Falls, S.D., and Sunday at a NOSA event at the Buffalo River Race Park near Glyndon, Minn.
A handful of RCS drivers are planning on running Saturday at the Badlands Motor Speedway where the feature winner will take home roughly $25,000 in silver bars.
Hastings is in ninth in RCS season points after two nights of racing. Mark Dobmeier, who has 115 career wins at RCS, leads the points race but won’t be at The Bullring Friday. He’ll be racing at a National Sprint League event in Jackson, Minn.
Hastings, meanwhile, says he’s still learning as he competes against more experienced drivers.
“The hardest thing to learn is patience, for sure,” said Hastings.
