7/13/2016
Jarrett Martin
California Speedweek Recap
The Streaker Racing 20az Micro Sprint made its way to California last week for the 2nd annual California Speedweek. The four race event spanned five days and four different race tracks that included Dixon Speedway, Delta Speedway, Plaza Park Raceway and closed out at Lemoore Raceway.
Jarrett and Steve headed over a couple days early to catch the final night of the Budweiser Outlaw Nationals at Plaza Park where Jarrett ran 13th in both Non-Wing and Super 600 wing action.
Speedweek got underway on Tuesday at Dixon Speedway. Jarrett was entered in both the Non-Wing and Super 600 classes.
Non-Wing cars would hit the track first throughout the week and Jarrett got his Speedweek off to a good start qualifying 16th, putting him on the pole to start Heat 1. Jarrett would enter turn 1 of the first lap 3 wide in the middle and would come out turn 2 running in 3rd. Jarrett would challenge for 2nd in 3 and 4 but come up a little short, Jarrett would fall back to 4th on lap 3 coming out of turn 4 after holding off two cars for the position the previous lap. The first caution of the night would come out halfway through the first heat with Jarrett running in 5th for a spin in the middle of turns 1 and 2. We wouldn’t get a lap completed before the next caution due to a spin in turn 4 the car running in 6th made contact with Jarrett and spun. In the final laps of the Heat, Jarrett would get moved for 5th coming out of turn 4. Jarrett would have to regain his momentum but would lose one more spot in the closing laps and finish in 7th.
Jarrett would line up 6th in the first semi and it would take 3 attempts before completing lap. On the final start, Jarrett would end up 3 wide again but this time on the bottom and would come out of turn 2 running 4th. Lap 2 would bring out another caution as two cars would get together and spin in turn 4. On the restart, Jarrett would find himself in battle for the third and final transfer spot and in a battle for 4th from the car behind him. Jarrett would get stacked up coming out of turn 2 on the start losing ground to 3rd and allowing the 5th place car to get a head of steam and complete the pass the following lap coming out of turn 2. Jarrett would continue to battle for 4th place for another lap and a half before getting a right rear in the cockpit from the car running in 6th bringing out the yellow with 10 laps to go. Jarrett would restart 11th and pick up a position before the next caution would wave for a spin in turn 2 with 8 laps to go. On the following restart two cars could get together and front of Jarrett and clip his right rear tire. We’d only get one lap completed before the last caution of the semi would come out for a car hitting the wall in turns 3 and 4. Jarrett ended running the last handful of laps with a flat right rear and would finish the semi out of the transfer spot in 9th.
The Super 600 action didn’t fare any better as the car was had issues all night and didn’t make it out for the semi. Mason Keefer attempted to run races 2 and 3 in the Super 600 entry before the car was retired for the weekend.
Night 2 of CA Speedweek moved to Delta Speedway in Stockton and Jarrett should speed right out of the gate. He ran the 3rd fastest lap in hot laps but didn’t have enough fuel in the car during qualifying and ran 41st, lining him up 9th in Heat 1.
Jarrett was able to grab a position on the start to move into 8th and would gain another position coming out of turn 2 on lap 3 of a pretty uneventful heat race. Jarrett would finish the heat in 7th. That would line him up 10th in the second semi.
Jarrett wasted no time on the start and was up to 7th to complete lap 1. Jarrett would battle for 6th and complete the pass on lap 5 as he dove to the inside in turn 3 and came out of turn 4 with the position. Jarrett would pick up two more spots with 4 to go, the first to move into 5th in the middle of turn 2 and then he would race side by side for 4th down the backstretch before completing the pass in turn 3. Jarrett would begin to catch the leaders but was running out of time before a caution came out when the 2nd place car lost an engine in turn 2. Jarrett would restart in the final transfer spot and battle for 2nd while holding off a charge from 4th for the final 2 laps to earn the final transfer spot in the Feature.
Jarrett was constantly fighting for positions in the 30 lap Feature against some of the best Micro drivers in the country. Jarrett ran most of the Feature in 19th, getting as high up as 18th and running as low as 21st at the start. Jarrett ran all 30 laps finishing in 19th.
After an off day for traveling and working on the cars, Speedweek moved to Visalia to run at Plaza Park Raceway. Jarrett qualified 28th and line up 6th in Heat 3.
In a race that didn’t see much of any passing, Jarrett was able to grab a position riding the berm in turns 1 and 2 to move into 5th. He remain there for the remaining 10 laps that had one caution for a car slowed on the track with 2 laps completed.
Jarrett would line up 4th in the second semi and would take over the final transfer spot coming out of turn 2. Only one lap would be completed before the yellow would come out for a wreck in turn 2. Two laps after the restart, the car behind Jarrett would attempt a slider that would come up just short and make contact with Jarrett forcing him to let off the throttle and giving up the spot. The caution would come out just after they crossed the line for a wreck in turns 3 and 4. Jarrett would restart in 4th and ran the last 8 laps with everything he had. He would come up just short and miss the transfer spot by one position to end night 3.
The final night of CA Speedweek moved to Lemoore Raceway where Jarrett would qualify 21st and start 6th in Heat 1.
The field got stacked up in the middle of turns 1 and 2 on the start and Jarrett ended up getting spun around to bring out the first caution. Jarrett restart in the back of the field but wasted little time getting back up to 6th coming out of turn 2. On lap 3 the three cars running in front of Jarrett would get stacked up again, Jarrett would make hard contact as he tried to avoid the pileup, but never came to a stop on the track and restarted in 3rd. Jarrett would run in 3rd with 4 laps to go before leaving just enough room for CA Speedweek Non-Wing Champ Chris Andrews to make the pass on the bottom in turn 3 and finishing the Heat in 4th. Jarrett would earn enough points to lock himself into the 16th starting position for the Feature.
On the start of the Feature, Jarrett would get stuck on the outside and fall back a couple spots to 18th before finding an opening on the bottom lane. Jarrett would work his way back up to 16th with 5 laps completed. Jarrett would continue to battle for position until the right front steering arm broke and Jarrett was unable to get the car to turn. He would fall to 21st before the caution would wave for a wreck in turn 2. Jarrett gave it another shot on the restart but the car wouldn’t handle. Jarrett made contact with the wall heading into turn 1 before pulling the car into the infield to close out Speedweek.
This trip wouldn’t have been possible without the support from Streaker Racing, K Corp, MyRacePass, The Race Shack, Sutton Signs, and Invision Auto Body. Thank you to Kevin Keefer Racing for allowing us to run your car as the Super 600 entry and letting us borrow your motor over the past couple weeks for the Non-Wing car.
We may be running a few races in Show Low, AZ this summer so check out the schedule page to keep up to date with any changes.
Please check out our partners at:
Streaker Racing: https://www.facebook.com/StreakerRacing
K Corp: http://karbercorporation.com
Sutton Signs and Apparel
MyRacePass: http://www.myracepass.com/
DW Promotions
Invision Auto Body: http://invisionautobody.com
The Race Shack: https://www.facebook.com/racersare1/?fref=ts
Article Credit: DW Promotions
Submitted By: Darren Ward