Berkley, MA – (June 30, 2008) – Jake and the rest of the Mad Dog Motorsports team brought the yellow, white and blue Ford Fusion home in the second position in the Propane Plus-sponsored 75-lap main event Saturday night, surviving a caution-marred race. This was the team’s first top five on the young season.
Starting from the fourth position, Jake fell back to fifth at the drop of the initial green. He would not be there for long, though, working his way past the third and fourth place cars before a caution flag slowed action. Restarting in the third position, Jake passed the #95 of Steve O’Brien (Scituate, MA) for second, and a few laps later the #4 of Scott Dion (Taunton, MA) for the lead.
Jake set the pace for thirteen laps before relinquishing the lead to Pro Stock veteran Fred Astle, Jr. (Westport, MA) on lap 45 of the 75-lap main. Jake would not go down without a fight, though, racing side-by-side with the veteran ace.
“It was great racing with Freddy! We had a great time out there, rubbing a little bit and racing the old-fashioned way,” Jake said after the event.
Shortly after Astle, Jr. got by, the #52 of defending track champion David Darling (Rehoboth, MA) passed Jake, shuffling him back to third. With just six laps to go, though, Jake was able to get by Darling and restake his claim on the second position.
“We are thrilled with our finish tonight. The guys worked hard to give me a great car and it really showed because we were definitely one of the fastest cars here tonight. We are really happy to post such a solid finish with one of our partners (Propane Plus) here sponsoring tonight’s race,” said an exhausted Vanada.
The next race on tap for MDM is this coming Saturday at the Seekonk Speedway, July 5, for a 40-lap main event.