A STRONG NIGHT FOR THE RAGIN’ CAJUN IN THE SO CAL SHOWDOWN AT PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY ON APRIL FOOL’S DAY NETS A DISAPPOINTING RESULT AS HIS RUN AT THE FRONT ENDS WITH A SPIN

PERRIS, CALIFORNIA (April 1, 2017) – After the races concluded on Friday night in Hanford, California, Jason and the JJR Marshall Racing team loaded up their Maxim Racing machine and headed 4.5 hours south to Perris Auto Speedway (The PAS) for the World of Outlaw Craftsman Sprint Car Series show at the famous Southern California speed plant. There were 26-winged sprint cars registered to race as each got to take some fast spins around the track in hot laps.

When time trial qualifying commenced, Jason was the tenth driver to take over the racing surface at The PAS aboard his Fischer Body Shop/CCC #41. He was hammer down the first time around with a 14.755 second lap, but he stayed on the throttle and his Kistler Engine/Engler Machine and Tool power plant delivered as the Ragin’ Cajun turned an even quicker lap the second time around at 14.517 seconds. When the checkers fell over the last qualifier, Jason’s quick time was third quick overall to get the night started on the right foot.

Earning the pole position in the third and final heat race, Philip and the JJR Marshall Racing crew prepared their Maxim Racing missile for action. The horn sounded and the heat races were on the clock. When the second heat race concluded with David Gravel taking the win over Shane Stewart, the push truck tapped the rear nerf bar on the forty-one and Jason’s Kistler Engine came to life. He would share the front row of the heat race with Sheldon Haudenschild with Paul McMahan and Parker Price-Miller in row two and Brady Bacon and Carson Macedo in row three. When the flagman dropped the green flag, Jason did what he does best as he got his entry up to high speed quickly and set sail in the Priority Aviation Services, LLC/Jonestown KOA #41 as Haudenschild jumped into the lead at the start. Jason was racing hard with Parker Price-Miller early for the second spot and took sole possession of the position as he ran smooth lines around Perris Auto Speedway to come home second and advanced to the Craftsman Club Dash for the fourth straight night out in California and his 12 Dash of the season, an 85.71% Dash qualifying success rate in 2017. The remainder of the qualifiers were Parker Price-Miller who came home third with McMahan, Macedo and Bacon claiming the final transfer positions to the feature event.

Positioning yourself in the Craftsman Club Dash is an important part of a successful evening. The six-lap event features the top two from each heat race with the finishing order setting the first three rows of the feature. The Louisiana native was poised to continue his good night starting from the sixth position, as a zero was pulled for the inversion, in his Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/KSE Racing Products sprint car. The front row of Brad Sweet and David Gravel would dominate the event with Sweet taking the event win over Gravel with Jason Sides, Sheldon Haudenschild, Shane Stewart and Jason rounding out the running order at the finish.

The last order of business was the running of the 30-lap feature for the World of Outlaw Craftsman Sprint Car Series competitors. Jason would start on the outside of row three with Shane Stewart to his inside. After a bit of track preparation, the 24 drivers who earned a spot in the field fired their engines to get the party started. When the green flag waved, it was David Gravel securing the lead after battling Sweet down the backstretch with Jason dueling for position from his sixth starting position. When the red flag flew for Parker Price-Miller who flipped in turn two, Jason has the Priority Aviation Services #41 sitting in the fourth position for the lap 10 restart. When racing resumed, Jason was on the gas and making progress when he spun in turn four to bring out the caution just before the halfway point of the race. Shane Stewart also spun. Both drivers went to the work area and rejoined the tail of the field. Gravel still was leading the race and would lead every lap as he took the win over Brad Sweet, Sheldon Haudenschild and Donny Schatz with Ian Madsen coming home in fifth.

Jason was the last car on the lead lap and was scored with a 19th place finish. This certainly was not the ending they were hoping for, but as they say that is racing. The JJR Marshall Racing team will carry their strong qualifying efforts into Arizona as they head towards Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT) territory on their way back towards the Midwest.