Team Release
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
Manassas, VA-With representatives from
sponsors Phillips Seafood, Naturally Fresh,
and HeloAir on hand Saturday night in
Jennerstown, Pa., JJ Pack delivered a solid
ninth-place finish in the USAR Hooters
ProCup Series Lucas Oil 250 presented by
Murray’s Freightliner, Sterling, Western
Star at Jennerstown Speedway. The first-year
driver also earned the $1000 Miller Lite
Rookie of the Race award as the highest
finishing rookie en route to his first
top-ten finish in the series.
"This feels great!", the Manassas, Va.,
driver exclaimed as he exited the No. 06
Chevy Monte Carlo after the 1 hour, 35
minute race. "I could go another 250! This
isn’t a win, but it almost feels like it.
After Lonesome Pine, and the trouble and the
finish we had there, this is fantastic. To
have everyone from Phillips and HeloAir
here, this was just what we needed."
After being interviewed by Stephen Cox of
SPEED Channel, Pack continued. "The way the
race started, I thought for sure we had a
top-5 piece on our hands. We qualified 14th,
and we must have passed four or five cars in
the first 10 laps. It was just sticking
wherever I put it. A couple of times we had
all 4 [tires] below the yellow [line] in 1
and 2, and it held. It was a rocket to start
out."
Series veteran Jeff Agnew started the race
setting a torrid pace, building up as much
as a four-second lead in the opening
green-flag run. The PACKs Racing machine
held its own throughout the first quarter of
the race, and by the time the first yellow
flag waved, JJ was the last car on the lead
lap in 10th place. Crew chief Ray Andrews
took advantage of the well timed caution,
and brought the car in for the first
adjustment of the night. "We started out
just as fast as the leaders were," Andrews
said. "After about 30 or 40 laps, JJ radioed
in and said the car was slipping to the
tight side. We were the last car on the lead
lap, so we had nothing to lose by bringing
her in under the first caution and trying to
free it up some."
As the race wore on, Pack continued to
battle the tight condition. With only four
cautions for a total of 22 laps during the
entire 250-lap event at the .522 mile
speedway, Andrews had limited opportunity to
make the necessary changes. "We needed just
a little bit more gear tonight, and we
didn’t get the chances to chase the setup
like we normally do. There were just so few
cautions tonight," the first-year crew chief
said. "All in all, this was a great night
for us. We have to walk before we run,
right?", he said smiling. "We had a lot of
people here tonight, and I think we gave
them everything we had. I know the crew sure
did. We worked real hard all day and came
pretty close tonight. We would have loved to
pull out the win here, but with the way the
year’s started out for us and how tough this
series is, we’ll gladly take this."
Pack also talked about how important it was
to have a strong showing with
representatives from the team’s sponsors in
attendance. "We had a lot of people here
tonight. It didn’t really put any pressure
on us, I think it just made the whole team
focus on everything a bit more. The guys
gave me a great [pit] stop tonight, and Ray
made as many changes as we could for as few
opportunities we had, and we kept getting
better all night. I’m really thankful to
Phillips Seafood for coming on board with us
for this race. I just can’t say enough about
how big a lift it was to the whole team to
have Phillips step in and give us a boost.
With the appearance we had up there in
Baltimore with them [Phillips] at their
headquarters and restaurant, this has just
been an awesome weekend. I’ve got to thank
everyone at Naturally Fresh for helping us
out here tonight, too. This is a tough
series to try to run without help, and to
have those guys step up was huge! I also
have to thank HeloAir, Designer Fitness, and
Breg Environmental. They’ve been with us all
year, and this finish was just as big for
them."
Fans can keep up to speed with all of JJ’s
races and appearances at www.packsracing.com
