Jessica Clark Racing Newsletter

October Newsletter

We went to Shasta Park Raceway in Anderson, Ca for a Focus Midget Race the first weekend of October. It was a new track for everyone and rather challenging. We practiced on Friday night in order to get comfortable with the track and get the car dialed in. The car was not responding to our tuning adjustments. It became frustrating because my lap times were not improving. After discussing the situation with my crew at dinner Friday night, we came up with a plan for race day. The car felt much happier – and so did I – during practice on Saturday. In fact, I was able to qualify 3rd, which was faster than I expected. I ended up 5th in the feature and wrapped up the USAC Western Pavement Ford Focus Midget Championship. That felt really good!

The following weekend we switched gears and went to Toyota Speedway to race the Limited Late Model. I was actually supposed to race both cars on the same day again; however, the Focus Midget race was cancelled. This enabled me to give my full attention to the stock car. It worked out well. During practice on Friday night I was about a half second slower than my teammates. At the end of the evening I asked Tim Huddleston – team owner – what I needed to do to become competitive. He and another driver explained how to effectively get out of turn two so I could generate more speed without upsetting the car.  I was told to go home that night and think about what I needed to do. I did! I came back the next day and changed my line on the track. I knocked that half second right off – go figure! I qualified a very respectable 5th, and the times were extremely close. I ran a really clean feature and earned my first podium finish in that car – 3rd place. That was such a confidence booster!

Now I’ll share the special things that occurred in October. First, a team from CBS News came to Toyota Speedway and did a feature on my racing journey. They shot footage of me in both cars and interviewed my family – so you’ll get to meet my parents – they’re cool! When it airs I’ll send a link for people to see it. Next, I became a Guest Columnist for Hotrodhotline.com, - the world’s largest online hotrod magazine. Not only will the column include my newsletters, media releases, and photos, it will be a tremendous avenue for promoting businesses that are partnered with Jessica Clark Racing.  http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/guestcolumnists/

Well, I only have one race left in each car before the season ends. I’ll be in Las Vegas the first week of November attending the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) Show. I look forward to meeting people who share an interest in cars and marketing through motor sports.

Goodbye For Now!

Jessica Clark