A SOLID NIGHT OFCOMPETITIVE RACING ACTION AT JACKSON MOTORPLEX RESULTS IN AN EIGHTH PLACE FINISH AFTER 30 LAPS AROUND THE FAST HALF-MILE OVAL IN FRONT OF A FULL HOUSE

JACKSON, MINNESOTA (June 24, 2016) – After traveling North following the conclusion of racing action at I-80 Speedway on Wednesday night, the JJR crew situated the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/JJR #41 Hauler in the pit area in the infield of Jackson Motorplex’s half-mile oval. The fans were flowing in the parking lots forcing some to the overflow lots. The grandstands were absolutely packed on this beautiful summer night in Minnesota as everyone was ready to see the drivers in The Greatest Show On Dirt. There were 36 powerful sprint cars in the pit area and every one had the same goal for the night – walk out with the $10,000 winner’s check.

In order to win the feature event, you had to first take your two qualifying laps and hope that they were good ones on this fast race track. Aboard the Priority Aviation Services, LLC/www.racediecast.com #41 Maxim, Jason pushed off seventeenth for his two laps and made the most of each of them. He crossed the timing light the first time around in 15.980 seconds. He kept rolling and was just a little slower the second time around at 15.999 seconds. His first lap would stick and be eighth quick on the night when time trials concluded. A good start to the evening for Jason and the JJR team.

Situated on the outside of the front row in heat four, the Rocky Mount, Missouri resident was ready to get up to speed. Ian Madsen was on the pole and when Doug Clark waved the green flag it was Madsen first to turn one. Jason was close behind in the Wilwood/ISC Racers Tape machine and stayed on the loud pedal chasing Madsen. The other Madsen, Kerry, was running in third and was trying to track down Jason for the position. But Ian and Jason were too good and crossed the finish line one-two just ahead of Kerry in third as Logan Schuchart and Paul McMahan secured the last two transfer spots in the heat.

Earning a spot in the Dash for the 16th time in the 2016 season, a 33.33% success rate, Jason was hoping for an ‘8’ pill to be drawn as he was sitting eighth in the pre-Dash inversion order. As luck would have it a ‘0’ pill was drawn which meant he would start from the outside of row four for the Dash. When the race got started, pole sitter Daryn Pittman jumped into the lead before a yellow was displayed as Shane Stewart and Bill Balog got together. They both rejoined the field and when the racing got back up to speed Jason was fighting for position with Stewart for the sixth spot on the track. Pittman would win the Dash over Joey Saldana, David Gravel, Ian Madsen, Sammy Swindell and Shane Stewart with Jason coming home seventh in the Fischer Body Shop/Schoenfeld Headers #41 as Balog rounded out the field.

The 30-lap feature event was up next. As the field rolled onto the track the anticipation could be felt in the air. The fans were ready and so were the drivers and teams. On the initial start, outside front row starter Joey Saldana took the lead and led lap one. Pittman would have nothing to do with that and the second time around seized the spot at the front of the pack. Jason was working hard inside the cockpit of the Waco Metal/Jonestown KOA #41 Maxim Racing hot rod and was moving forward. A few early cautions changed the running order and Jason was taking advantage of every spot he could gain. As the race reached the half way point, Jason was racing with Sammy Swindell and Ian Madsen for position. Jason put a slider on Swindell for position in turn four which caused Swindell to check up and Swindell made contact with Madsen bringing out the yellow flag. When they restarted racing, Jason got his elbows up and raced his way up as high as forth before a late race caution closed the field. The competition red was shown so the teams could refuel. Starting from the fourth spot with 10-to-go, Jason was ready to go. When the yellow lights turned to green, it was calamity as everyone wanted the spot in front of them. Jason got shuffled back in the running order and when Pittman took the win over Kerry Madsen the front two were followed across the finish line by Shane Stewart, and David Gravel with Craig Dollansky rounding out the top five. Jason finished eighth, his 25th top ten of the season – a 52.08% top ten success rate, as he followed Donny Schatz and Danny Lasoski home on this night. A good run for the forty one!