From J&J
McKENZIE, TN (April 6) – With the Sprint car racing season beginning to build momentum in the United States and nearing the end in Australia, J&J Auto Racing teams continued to shine on both continents. Drivers piloting the cars built in western Tennessee dominated the three-day 2010 Camden Neon Signs Easter Sprintcar Trail program in Australia and also found victory lane in Ohio over the weekend.
AUSTRALIAN EASTER TRIAL TRIPLE HEADER
J&J Auto Racing picked up the hatrick in Australia over the weekend as Steve Lines won the first two rounds of the Easter Trial and Ryan Farrell scored the finale of the three-race weekend in South Australia.
Lines opened the weekend by out qualifying the field at Avalon Raceway in the David Challons’ owned No. 45 Camden Neon Signs sponsored J&J. It was the sign of things to come for Lines as he dominated the field to pick up the opening night victory.
“It means a lot to bring the car home in first place for Dave and the Camden Neon Signs team being that Camden Neon sponsor the Easter Trail as well as our team,” said Lines, following the win. “We’re definitely looking forward to our home track tomorrow night at Mount Gambier after tonight’s effort.”
Danny Reidy gave J&J two of the three podium finishers as he raced the No. 5 J&J to a third place finish at Avalon.
The second night was much of the same for Lines and the Camden Neon Signs team. The reigning South Australian Sprintcar champion raced the No. 45 J&J from the pole position and led another brigade of J&J racers to the checkered flag. For the second consecutive night, Danny Reidy (No. 5 J&J) finished third. Robbie Farr brought the EastCoast Pipeline No. 7q J&J home fourth.
With two victories in two nights, Lines was shooting for the weekend sweep in Sunday’s finale at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as smoothly for Lines as he battled motor issues throughout the evening. The team showed their championship resolve by coming home fourth in the feature event.
“It’s just amazing how this sport goes, you can be on such a high and then it tears you down real quick,” admitted Lines, who earned the most points in the three-night event. “We just had a motor issue and put another in and it seemed to do the same thing so we were in trouble then.”
“It’s good to get good results for the crew, they have worked hard all year and Dave and Camden Neon Signs and his whole family have just supported me all year.”
Ryan Farrell was the top racer in Sunday’s 30-lap feature event. He drove Mat Eastham’s No. 88 J&J from the pole position to victory ahead of three other J&J’s. Danny Reidy concluded a consistent weekend with a runner-up finish and Robbie Farr (No. 7q J&J) came home third for the second consecutive night. Steve Lines raced from 13th to finish fourth.
“I have got to thank (regular car owner) Luch (Monte) for letting me be here tonight,” said Farrell. “He has been good enough to let me come race Mat’s car again tonight.”
“I just love coming here, this is by far the best run facility in the country and the people here are nice and I am treated well and it’s just a pleasure to come here.”
“It’s a real credit to Mat (Eastham). For a pretty tight budget he presents a really great racecar every night.”
ATTICA RACEWAY PARK
Defending O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint car champion Tim Shaffer put on a thrilling display in Friday night’s season opener at Attica Raceway Park. Shaffer piloted the CH Motorsports No. 83 Kistler powered J&J from his 13th starting spot into the lead, but he was forced to make a daring move through traffic with four laps remaining to secure the win.
Shaffer raced his way into the lead on lap nine, but faced numerous challengers during the 30-lap event on the third mile dirt oval. Early it was a battle with Tim Kaeding and late it was a three-way challenge with Byron Reed and Greg Wilson. In the end, it was Shaffer that came out on top, claiming his sixth career win at Attica.
“They doubled teamed me…I was like ‘where did they come from.’ That had to be a fun race to watch,” admitted Shaffer. “(Crew Chief) Brian (Kemenah) and the guys..hats off, great job. I have to thank Technique Roofing, VRP Shocks, Kistler Engines…it goes on.”
“That was a blast. Everyone raced each other clean and hard. I really love that and respect that and I try to do my best to do that. To come from that far back and win here, that’s hard. Everything just fell into place. We struggled early..I wasn’t going to make it through the heat race and I had some luck and that put us in the feature. I was like ‘maybe we need to run the B to get some more laps. But Brian figured it out. That thing was awesome.”