Berkley, MA – (July 14, 2008) – Prior to the race, Jake and the #16 Aubuchon Hardware Ford Fusion were set up in victory lane for a meet and greet with all of the fans. Following the autograph session, many fans were walking around, sporting MDM tee shirts and brandishing autographed hero cards of Jake and his #16 Pro Stock. These were the same fans who cheered Jake on to an eighth place finish.
Starting the race from the thirteenth position, Jake was boxed in at the back of the pack for the first 16 laps before the first caution of the event was thrown. “We were just stuck back there behind the 52. I was planning on following David through the field, but the lane just did not go as we expected,” Jake said after the race.
During the next green flag run, Jake began working the outside lane, when another car made contact with the left rear quarter panel, sending him spinning into turn one. Maneuvering the car like a veteran, he was able to keep it both off of the wall and out of the way of oncoming traffic.
“That was a tough deal in turn one. We were trying to work the outside groove and the guy on the inside of us just came right up into us and took us out. It is unfortunate that some of the drivers don’t respect each other so early in the race. I mean there was still 20 to go.”
Jake’s string of bad luck would continue on lap 30 when he would make contact with the spinning car of David Hutchins. Hutchins spun down off of the track coming off of turn number four, leaving Jake and three other competitors no place to go. The result was four cars being collected in the melee.
“That thing with Hutch was tough, but I had nowhere to go. I feel bad for Hutch too because it looks like someone got into him and spun him to cause that whole deal. Tom, Sr. and the other guys that got into me had nowhere to go either.”
The end result was a top ten finish, though, as Jake worked his way back from his restarting position at the tail end of the field into the eighth spot.
“Our finish was not bad. We would have liked to finish a little bit better with Aubuchon here tonight, but that’s racing. We just have to get ready for next week now. There is a lot of work to do on the chassis, but we are going to throw all we have at it and be back next Saturday.”
Jake is now tied for fifth in the point standings with Mike Brightman and Kenny Spencer. He is second in the running for the Rookie of the Year title, trailing Ryan Vanesse by 30 points.
The next race for MDM is Saturday, July 19, at the Seekonk Speedway (MA) – a 50-lap event as part of the Mid-Season Championship presented by Francis Farm.