No. 11 Conrad Yelvington/Allstate Materials Chevrolet -
Jason Keller
Homestead Post-Race Report
Date: Saturday, November 17, 2007
Event: Ford 300
Track: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL.
Pole Sitter: David Ragan, 31.129 sec.
Keller’s Qualifying Position: 21st, 31.824 sec.
Race Winner: Jeff Burton
Keller’s Finishing Position: 28th
Nationwide Series Finale Not What CJM Racing had Hoped for, Team Finishes 28th
(November 17, 2007) Homestead, Fl. – Finishing out the 2007 season on a high note was what CJM Racing had really hoped for. The team came into the NASCAR Nationwide Series late in the season and worked countless hours to become a competitive force against the high dollar teams. With sponsorship pending in 2008 and Jason Keller’s commitment to the Nationwide Series over the last 16 years, a top-10 finish would have been a nice way to finish out the season. The team found out just 13 laps in that that hope was not to become a reality. Keller was tapped by Patrick Carpentier on the backstretch causing severe damage to the left front of the No. 11 CJM Racing entry.
CJM Racing made a last minute call to head down to the season finale race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The decision to go was based on the hope of improving their mile-and-a-half program and the hope of attracting potential sponsors for 2008.
With an all white race car, Keller took to the track for two practice sessions on Friday. After some tweaking, Keller was able to turn some fast laps in final practice and place the No. 11 17th on the board with a time of 31.614 seconds. He would later follow that time up with a 31.824 second qualifying run placing the CJM Racing machine in the 21st position for Saturday’s Ford 300 race.
Under bright and sunny skies, 43 cars prepared themselves for the season ending race at Homestead. The tone for 200-lap event was quickly set as the first caution flag waved just four laps in. Keller took that opportunity to report in a tight handling race car. The team opted to stay out on track and reassess as more laps got underway.
The next caution flag would fly on lap 13 and unfortunately that caution became a nightmare as the team quickly realized that Keller had been caught up in an accident on the backstretch. The No. 19 of Patrick Carpentier got loose and ran up the track directly into Keller. The contact caused severe damage to the left front of the No. 11 CJM machine. Keller was forced to bring the race car down pit road multiple times for repair and wreaked havoc on the handling of the race car.
Despite all the odds stacked against them, Keller and the team kept their composure and worked feverishly to try and make the No. 11 better out on the track. After four pit stops and still on the lead lap, Keller returned to the field in the 39th position on lap 24.
As the caution flags continued to wave, the crew was able to bring Keller down pit road to repair and address handling issues. Changes ranged from air pressure to track bar and wedge. The team never gave up despite the No. 11 looking like it had been out on the battle field.
The laps slowly dwindled down and Keller maintained what track position he could and at one point even ran up in the top-15. The cars would fresh tires would soon begin to push Keller and the No. 11 team back in the field. When the checkered flag finally fell, the white race car of CJM Racing finished out the day in the 28th position.
“We had obviously hoped for some more success than this tonight,” explained Keller. “We fell victim again to someone else’s mistake and it’s frustrating. But we worked hard and the team never gave up so with everything that happened we’ll take this 28th place finish and start moving forward with our 2008 program.”
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