No. 11 Sweet Baby Ray’s Chevrolet / Jason Keller

Texas II Post-Race Report

Date: Saturday, October 27, 2007
Event: Sam’s Town 250
Track: Memphis Motorsports Park, Millington, Tenn.
Pole Sitter: Marcos Ambrose, 22.901 sec.
Keller’s Qualifying Position: 5th, 23.089 sec.
Race Winner: David Reutimann
Keller’s Finishing Position: 8th

A Race Against Darkness in a Caution Filled Sam’s Town 250

(October 27, 2007) Millington, Tenn. – There is never a doubt that Memphis Motorsports Park will bring about some action packed racing as 43 drivers vie for the coveted Elvis Trophy. The 250 lap event brought out a record 25 caution laps and tested the driver’s patience as well as endurance. In the end Jason Keller and the CJM Racing team held strong and crossed the finish line in the eighth position.

It was apparent that the No. 11 InvestLinc Chevy was strong right from the start. Keller posted quick times in both practice sessions with a very promising time of 22.890 seconds in final practice. With only minor adjustments the team was confident in their ability to contend for their first Bud Pole of the year during Saturday’s qualifying session.

As the sun shined down and the track temperature rose, Keller drove the InvestLinc Chevy hard into the corners to place the No. 11 machine fifth on the qualifying board. The solid qualifying run marked the team’s best qualifying effort of the season.

With a positive attitude and a strong position in the field, Keller strapped in for a race like no other. Little did everyone know that when that green flag fell the fans and crews were in for a long day.

Within the first few laps of the Sam’s Town 250 a caution flag flew and signified what the remainder of the day would be like. Keller maintained his composure and avoided the melee going on around him.

“I couldn’t believe what was going on out on the race track. I don’t know if we ran more than 10 green flag laps before a caution flag would come out. It was really hard to get a feel for the race car and get into a groove with so many laps under caution,” remarked Keller.

Despite the circumstances at hand, Keller did experience a problem driving thru the corners of the track. From the early laps of the race, Keller reported in, “I’m a little tight thru the center.”

On lap 41, crew chief Todd Gordon called Keller to pit road for four fresh tires, fuel, an air pressure and track bar adjustment. Keller restarted in the fourth position and continued his quest to run up front and lead the 43 car field.

As the caution flags continued to fly, pit strategy began to become the deciding factor in track position. Keller brought the No. 11 InvestLinc Chevy down pit road two more times for track bar, air pressure and wedge adjustments as the car continued to handle poorly in the corners.

The adjustments proved beneficial as Keller found himself posted as the lap leader just past the half way mark of the 250 lap event. The No. 11 machine stayed a strong contender for the remaining laps as the endurance race continued.

“We had a great car, just struggled a bit in the corners. The guys did a great job accessing what was going on with the handling and made the adjustments to get us a top-10 finish,” stated Keller.

As darkness closed in on the Birth Place of Rock N’ Roll, Keller held strong and gave the team their third top-10 finish of the season posting an eighth place finish.

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