Eddie Sharp Racing Post Race Report
RACE: City Chevrolet 150 (UARA-STARS Series)
TRACK: Concord (N.C.) Speedway
DATE: August 4, 2012
UARA ROOKIE BRANDON JONES NOTCHES FIRST CAREER WIN
Brandon Jones in the No. 33 Chevrolet
DENVER, NC (August 5, 2012) - In just his 10th United Auto Racing Association (UARA) STARS Series race, Brandon Jones recorded his first career win on Saturday, August 4 at Concord (N.C.) Speedway. The 15-year-old from Atlanta, Ga. joined Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) in January 2012, and has raced in late model and super late model races across the southeast for the winning organization. After rolling off fifth in his first race at Concord Speedway, Jones battled the competition before being declared the race winner of the City Chevrolet 150.
With no previous experience at the tough Concord Speedway, Jones' spent Friday's practice session logging laps and getting acclimated to the half-mile speedway. By Saturday morning, Jones felt confident enough on the track to make race runs and mock qualifying runs to prepare for the day's competition. Jones was third-fastest in the final practice session with a 16.839-second lap. The rookie driver picked up three-tenths during qualifying to post a 16.509-second lap and secure the fifth starting position.
The crew made a few minor adjustments after qualifying to free their car up for the 150-lap feature later that evening. Starting on the inside line, Jones was pinched on the bottom of the track giving up several positions and ultimately dropping to around the 10th position. Knowing that the race would be marred with cautions on the tight, fast track, Jones laid back conserving his equipment and dodging the accidents. By the halfway point, Jones had worked his way back through the competition and was knocking on the door of the top five.
Around lap 100, Jones' crew chief, Lee McCall, came over the radio and told Jones that it was time to start chasing down the leader. The rookie quickly got up on the wheel and started to race through the frontrunners moving into the third position by lap 135. With less than 10 laps to go the caution flag was displayed one last time setting the field up for a green-white-checkered finish. With a strong restart, Jones crossed the finish line in the second position. A few hours after the checkered flag waved, Jones was declared the race winner as the No. 12 car was found to be illegal during the post-race technical inspection.
"This is probably the biggest win of my career," commented Jones after being declared the race winner. "The competition in UARA is always very tough, and to have a win at this level and at this point in my career is awesome. I can't thank everyone at Eddie Sharp Racing enough for all their hard work-they've built me awesome race cars week after week. I would also like to thank Cale Gale for always being there to help and support me throughout my career-after his race at Pocono Raceway he got off the plane and came to Concord to help me during my race. It means a lot to me to have the support of my team, teammates and sponsors, and I'm happy that I was able to win this race for all of them."
"I would like to thank everyone at Eddie Sharp Racing and Rheem," commented Lee McCall, crew chief for Brandon Jones and the No. 33 Chevrolet. "It was really special for the guys who work on these cars week in and week out. We got in an accident early in the night last week, so to go from that, to qualifying fifth and winning Brandon's first race on a track that he's never seen before was a big accomplishment for all of us."
Jones and the UARA-STARS Series will be back in action at Tri-County (N.C.) Speedway on Friday, August 10.
Media Contact:
Ashleigh Aungst
Public Relations Manager
Eddie Sharp Racing
Office: 704.489.8809
Mobile: 717.222.0664
AAungst@TeamESR.com
Eddie Sharp Racing | 3570 Denver Drive | Denver | NC | 28037
Photos by Drew Heiwarter
