|
Misfortune strikes Jason Statler in Chico
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA - May 14, 2007... It’s difficult to sum up Jason Statler’s weekend at the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial after two night’s of tough luck ended his chances at putting the Tom Rolfe Trucking No. 10 machine into victory lane for the first time this season. Jason had serious speed all weekend, but both night’s featured unfortunate circumstances which kept Jason from finishes that he and the team had hoped for.
Jason and the No. 10 team began the weekend on Friday night with Silver Dollar Speedway Point Race #7. "The Big Guy" came into the evening sitting in a tie with Andy Forsberg for second in the track point standings and he began Point Race #7 by qualifying 18th quick with a lap of 12.395 aboard the Tom Rolfe Trucking, DF Rios Construction, Pheasant Run Shopping Center No. 10.
The 2004 King of California lined up on the outside of the front row in heat race number two and got the jump at the waving of the green flag. Jason led all the way and brought home the win in the Platinum Powder Coating, BR Motorsports, Northgate Rock, Ringers Gloves No. 10.
The 25 lap feature saw Jason start in the 13th position and he was on the hammer early in the going. The track had slicked off and he was able to make the high side work up top in turns one and two. The Hansen Machine & Fab, Yak Vinyl Graphics, Trimble Motorsports No. 10 was on the march and Jason was up to the top five when a caution came out on lap 14. Disaster struck on the 16th circuit, however, as Jason and another car banged wheels in turn four and it left the No. 10 machine with a damaged front end and it put an end to the night. It was disappointing as the car got faster as the race went on and it would have been interesting to see how far up Jason could have got.
Jason and the team came back to Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday night for the 17th annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial. Jason won the Bradway in 2004 and came into this year’s event sitting fourth in the Golden State Challenge Series point standings. The San Jose driver was the first man to hit the speedway for qualifying and his fastest lap of 12.845 held up for 10th quick overall out of the 43 cars that took times.
"The Big Guy" started fourth in the night’s second heat race and the opening lap of the heat saw Jason and another car get together in turn three which resulted in the No. 10 machine coming to a stop and suffering damage to the front of the car. Jason was able to get back out for the complete restart, but lap two saw him get upside down in turn four to put an end to the heat race.
With finishing 11th in the heat race it put Jason into the C-main which saw three other top competitors in it as well, and with only two cars transferring out, a couple big names would not be making it into the B-main. Jason was sitting in third as the laps wound down and a yellow-checkered occurred on lap nine so it put an early end to the night for the No. 10 team. It definitely wasn’t a night that Jason and the team had hoped for, but all you can do is move on to the next race and hope for some better luck in the coming week.
Jason and the Tom Rolfe Trucking team will be right back in action at Silver Dollar Speedway this coming Friday for SDS Point Race #8. Jason goes into the night now sitting fourth in the Silver Dollar Speedway point standings.
On Saturday the team will head South to Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway for the annual Chris Faria Memorial race which also serves as Golden State Challenge Series Round #12. The Chris Faria Memorial is held in memory of former racer Chris Faria who was killed in a freak farming accident in 1993. Jason won the Chris Faria Memorial in 2005 and it also marked his first ever win at the 1/3 mile clay oval.
Jason only lost one spot in the GSC point standings following the Bradway and now sits fifth in the points going into Tulare.
For more news and info on Jason Statler visit http://www.statlerracing.com
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
|
