NASCAR
WS: Irwindale: Jeff Jefferson race notes
Jefferson's Luck Runs Dry at Toyota Speedway IRWINDALE, CA (July 7, 2008) Luck is a precious commodity in racing and so far this season Jeff Jefferson of Naches, Washington has had very little of it. The CHP "200" at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, ...
Published: Jul 8, 2008, 2:32 AM
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Jefferson's Luck Runs Dry at Toyota Speedway
IRWINDALE, CA (July 7, 2008) Luck is a precious commodity in racing and so far this season Jeff Jefferson of Naches, Washington has had very little of it. The CHP "200" at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, CA was the seventh stop on the NASCAR Camping World Series-West schedule in 2008 and a place where Jefferson knew he could turn his luck around. Unfortunately, he was the one turned around late in the race resulting in a second straight DNF.
Jefferson qualified a decent 16th in the 31-car field for the 200-lap California Highway Patrol sponsored race. The plan was simple; stay out of trouble and be in the top ten during the closing laps.
The race was broken into two 100-lap segments. During the first segment, Jefferson was able to race his way up to the 7th position by lap 60 and cruised inside the top ten for the remainder of the segment.
During the halfway break, the MJ2 Racing team changed right side tires, fueled the car, and adjusted the tire pressures as the track was starting to loosen up quite a bit.
As the second segment started it looked as if the adjustments were working as Jefferson was able to ride the high line around the half-mile oval to perfection. But as quickly as he started to move forward, he developed a loose condition on corner exit and it was all he could do to hang on.
Hang on is what he did throughout the second half of the race waging a spirited battle with Terry Henry for the ninth position. Jefferson was able to repel Henry's attempts at every turn and hold onto to the spot. It looked as if a top ten finish was in sight.
That was until a lap 183 restart. The field was bunched up and everyone started to make bold moves as the laps were winding down. Moses Smith dove to the inside on lap 184 and made contact with Jason Patison. The contact saw Patison spin up the track to the wall involving several other cars along the way. Jefferson was right behind the duo and slowed to avoid the incident. Jefferson had the wreck cleared but was tagged from behind by a car that never got out of the gas.
The resulting contact sent Jefferson spinning into the damaged car of Patison crushing the frontend and dropping him out of the second consecutive race where a top ten finish was within his grasp.
"I am not sure what to say," Jefferson said. "It was one of those racing deals and no one is to blame. We just can't seem to buy a break this season. We were good enough to finish in the top ten but it was not meant to be."
"We'll move on to Roseburg and hope for better," Jefferson continued. "We have a great team but we just have no luck."
The finish will drop Jefferson out of the top ten in the season point standings as his MJ2 Racing team will look to rebound this Friday, July 11 at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Oregon. The Bi-Mart Firecracker "150" is the only NASCAR Camping World Series visit to the state Oregon this season.
-credit: mj2r
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