Townley Finishes Strong At ARCA Debut Inspite Of A Bad Crash
Feb 12, 2008
courtesy from asalatemodelssouth.com
John Wes Townley, making his ARCA RE/MAX Series debut in the 45th ARCA 200 stock car race, got involved in a major crash on the 30th lap of the 80-lap race but bounced back to finish on the lead lap, just out of the top ten.
“It was really fortunate the way it came out, “ reminisced the young racer. “It’s tough to come through a wreck like that without a scratch. I’d like to have been a little better but I didn’t expect to have a first place qualifying run. “ His qualifying run was a satisfying 19th, putting the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford on the grid after a lap of 50.327 sec/178.830 mph. Running smoothly and watching for opportunities, Townley’s race got changed dramatically with a crash in front of him on lap 29. “I saw a couple of cars in front of me get together and I got off the throttle. I just rolled out of the throttle in case a hole opened up but there was no getting by that one, “ he said.
The crash was not the only obstacle faced by the rookie driver. “My shifter would pop out of fourth gear, “ he said. “We got in there and we were going to take a rubber strap and hook it to the shifter. “ The plan was for John Wes to hook the strap around the shifter but the tight confines of a modern stock car, with its roll cage and the driver’s HANS device, made that difficult. “It was no big deal. There’s just nothing you could do about it, “ he stated. In spite of the shifter and traffic, Townley was pleased with his result. “I had some lapped cars that were holding me up a little bit but there was no point in pushing it, “ he commented. “I think we ended up pretty good. It was a big plus for me. It was a big experience, the first time at a track this big. I got all the butterflies out of my stomach, “ he grinned. Townley has just joined forces with Robby Benton Racing, commenting that “I’m really impressed with them. “
