PETERSEN MEDIA- Though his night started off with more bad luck, Jason Statler and his DF Rios Motorsports team persevered, kept at it, and salvaged their night as Statler charged from 19th to finish sixth during the 2nd Annual Peter Murphy Classic.
“We had something go south with our engine in hot laps, and I thought ‘here we go again’, Jason Statler said. “We went out last in time trials after changing our engine and we were fully in catch up mode.”
Going up in smoke during his hot lap session, Statler and his DF Rios Motorsports team would go to work on getting a fresh bullet under the hood of the Amerikote/Riley Collins Auto Body/SCI No. 00. Missing their time trial position while making the swap, the Grass Valley, CA driver would one lap at the end of the session and would time in 24th fastest.
Lining up in the third row of his heat race, ‘The Big Guy’ would jump into the fifth spot initially, and then go to work on fourth running, Jason Meyers, as he looked for the final transfer spot. Unable to gain the position he needed, Statler would make a stop in the B Main for one final shot at qualifying for the feature event.
Having some suspension issues warming up for the B, Statler’s team would make the adjustment before the green flag dropped and he would still be able to line up in the fourth row. Making some strong moves in the early going of the ‘B’, Statler would work into the third spot, where he would end up finishing, and successfully transfer into the 30-lap A Main.
Gridding the field from the 10th row on a very racy Thunderbowl Raceway, Statler would slowly carve his way forward aboard a very well prepared Kistler Racing Engines/Simpson Race Products/Yak Graphics backed No. 00 entry.
Following a red on the second lap, and a yellow on the third lap, Statler would work his way into the Top-10 when the yellow flag waived on the 17th lap. In the closing laps, Statler would look for more as he forged his way past the likes of Craig Sitdham and Cory Eliason to secure the lucrative Stephen Allard Hard Charger Award by way of his sixth place finish.
“I am just so proud of my guys for how hard they worked all night,” Statler said. “When things went south in hot laps, they didn’t get down and kept working. I have to thank everyone involved with this team for their work ethic, and hopefully we can take some of this momentum into next week and have an issue free night.”
Jason Statler would like to thank DF Rios Motorsports, Amerikote, Riley Collins Auto Body, SCI, Kaeding Performance, Kistler Racing Engines, Simpson Race Products, Yak Graphics, Factory Kahne Shocks, Ultra Shield, Rod End Supply, Santomauro, Stephanie’s Custom Interior, and Nevada City Auto Service for their continued support.
ON TAP: Statler will head to the Stockton Dirt Track on Saturday night for another night of action with the King of the West Series.
2014 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-20, Wins-0, Top-5’s-4, Top-10’s-8
STAY CONNECTED: Stay up to speed with Jason by following @Jason_Statler on twitter or by following @StatlerRacing.
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