With his experience growing each season at Flamboro Speedway, it’s easy to see why Kyle Lucas is excited for Operation Green Flag this weekend on July 4.

“I’m very excited about it, but at the same time, I’m very nervous, because this is the first time that I’ve had a race that’s had this many cars,” he told SHORT TRACK MUSINGS.

The nervous excitement is understandable as his team elected to build a new car for this season, despite having visited victory lane a couple times in 2019.

“It’s a whole new car,” Lucas said. “We got it from a guy for $300 and we built it our way. My dad is very confidence in his builds, and seems like a better car than last year’s car which I am pretty happy about it. I put on new tires and went out Sunday and it was like a completely different car from the other day that I drove it, so hopefully the few practice laps I have, I can get the hang of it.”

Lucas knows he’ll have his hands full with a stout field of competition, but notes that it’s all about having fun this weekend, too. Being able to compete in a field this big is something that he’s wanted to do for awhile, even if he was nervous about the idea initially.

“I mean, I’m going to give it my all, but I’m more so out to have some fun,” he commented. “We’re not going to have many chances to do this, this year, so I’m just going to enjoy it while I can and hopefully everything will go great.”

On the flip side, the field is also full of a bunch of drivers who have yet to compete at Flamboro. While most people have warned the new drivers about turns three and four being more dangerous, the opposite affect played out on Lucas’ psyche.

“For me, the whole time it was always turn two,” he explained. “I don’t know, maybe when you go around the corner and you see an open part in the wall, it can psyche you out a little. Say you got a little bump going into the turn and you were a little wide, and then it sent you – I guess it’s kind of fear in getting sent to the triangle of concrete.”

The event also brings a new challenge as while used to running twin 20 lap features as part of the regular schedule, Operation Green Flag is rather a straight-up 40-lap affair. With the temperature high resulting in the track being hotter, Lucas notes it’ll be about watching how your handling changes with the air pressure building in the tires more so than normal.

“When I did the 40 lap race, everybody that was up front, there were all fighting that spot and I was noticing that I was able to catch up to them faster, and I think it was because my tires weren’t as hot as theirs,” he commented. “They kept bumping into each other and slowing each other down, and I was able to catch up.”

While not being able to be at the track each week due to the COVID-19 quarantine, Lucas notes that he has been hanging out with friends and family, starting from just a single person till the end of April to more individuals lately with the restrictions lifting.