Quincy, Illinois (01/31/13) – Jake Griffin opened his 2013 season over the weekend at Watermelon Capital Speedway (Cordele, Georgia) with the SpeedFest 2013 event, which was sanctioned by the ARCA/CRA Series and JEGS/CRA All Star tours. He competed in both the Super Late Model and Pro Crate Late Model portions of the program.

Griffin qualified 19th fastest in the thirty-three car field of Super Late Models and 12th in the thirty-two car field of Pro Crate Late Models on Saturday afternoon, which set the starting grids for Sunday’s action.

On Sunday the team was eager to take a shot at recording a pair of solid performances, but as it would go they would just have to chalk the afternoon’s events to learning experiences. In the Pro Crate Late Model event Jake worked his way up to eighth early in the event before being collected in a wreck, which sent him to the tail of the field. During the remainder of the event he was unluckily collected in a couple of additional melees that relegated him to a 21st place finish.

The Super Late Model division found him starting nineteenth on the grid, but a lap 20 wreck sent him backwards to the 24th spot. After the lap 100 halfway break Griffin exited the pits in the eighth position on the heels of a good pit strategy. Unfortunately contact from behind soon sent him spinning back to the twenty-fourth spot again. Over the next several laps Jake worked methodically through the field into the top five. However, with just thirty laps remaining the alternator malfunctioned forcing Griffin to retire from the event to a 21st place finish.

Despite the disappointing ending to both features the team had a great time, and Jake gained a great deal of experience at a track that he had never seen before. Jake turned some of the fastest laps throughout the course of the weekend in the Super Late Model division including the fourth practice session, where he turned the fastest lap, and then recorded the third fastest laps overall on the weekend. In addition late in the Super Late Model feature Jake registered the fastest times for seven circuits in a row during his charge into the top five before his alternator issues sidelined him.

“It was a wild weekend for sure, but as I got more seat time I started to get more and more comfortable,” commented Griffin. “That alternator issue in the Super Late Model was really disappointing because I think at the very least we had a shot at a podium finish. We’ll just take this momentum and look ahead to the next event!”

He now looks forward to the busy slate of Speedweeks events in Florida, which will include eleven events in eleven days spread over the February 12th-22nd dates on the calendar. During that time frame he will enter an array of Dirt Open Wheel Modified events at Volusia Speedway Park (Barberville, Florida) during the UNOH DIRTCar Nationals as well as several Asphalt Super Late Model events at New Smyrna Speedway (New Smyrna, Florida). For information on the events, please visit www.DirtCarNationals.com and www.NewSmyrnaSpeedway.org .

Jake Griffin Racing would to like to thank all of their sponsors including Fierge Auto Parts, McPike’s Pawn Shop, Crawdad’s Classics Gourmet Hot Sauce, Triple R Machine Shop, Microtel Inns & Suites, Bob Pierce Race Cars, Johnny Spaw Race Cars Kelly’s Restaurant, Powder Coat Plus, Wilco Fast Breaks, Green Smart Builders, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, and Outdoor Power Inc.

For more information on Jake Griffin Racing, please visit www.JakeGriffin.net .

Thanks!
Ben Shelton, Owner
MSR Mafia – www.MSRMafia.com
The Midsouth Racing Scene – www.MidSouthRacing.com