Jason White Express Notes, No. 23 GunBroker.com Chevrolet NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Phoenix International Raceway, Race No. 2 of 25
Race Info: Event:Lucas Oil 150 Date: Friday, February 25, 2011
TV: SPEED, 8:00 p.m. ET Radio:MRN, 7:45 p.m. ET
Distance:150 laps/150 miles
Track:1-mile Oval
2010 Winner:Clint Bowyer
Team Website:www.JoeDenetteMotorsports.com Team Twitter:www.twitter.com/TeamJDM23 Jason’s Twitter:www.twitter.com/JasonWhite23
Fast & Fun Facts:
· Joe Denette, President of Joe Denette Motorsports, is expecting the birth of his first child, a baby boy on February 25th.
· Although Joe Denette Motorsports will be making its debut at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend, driver Jason White has three starts in the NCWTS at the 1-mile oval. White has an average start of 22.0 and an average finish of 28.3. Rise of the Phoenix:Jason White hopes to improve upon his career best Phoenix finish of 20th that was earned in 2008. White’s last two finishes in 2009 and 2010 have been DNF’s due to engine failure.
This Week’s No. 23 GunBroker.com Chevy:Jason White will pilot chassis “JDM03” in Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. This is a brand new chassis from the Joe Denette Motorsports stables. Due to the team’s alliance with Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) the chassis was built and set-up in Kernersville, NC and never saw the JDM Huntersville shop.
Rearview Mirror-Daytona: After a solid run in the top-5 for most of Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250, Jason White and the No. 23 GunBroker.com Chevrolet got caught up in a late-race incident, relegating the rookie team to a 30th place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Quoting Jason White: What makes Phoenix such a unique race track? “A driver has to approach each end of the track differently. Turn 1 is a hard braking entry corner but then opens up progressively leading to a kink in the back stretch. Typically Turn 1 is shaded as well from the stands, which gives it a different grip level from Turn 3. In fact I think you can make a comparison to Pocono. Even though the corners are banked more at Pocono, you still have to get off the last corner well to get a good run down the straightaway at Phoenix. The groove opens up and allows for good racing and aggressive restarts which makes the short track in the desert feel like a speedway.”
You haven’t had much success at Phoenix. Is this a track you enjoy coming to? “Phoenix is a track I enjoy coming to. It’s a challenging track, but a lot of fun. My finishes don’t exactly reflect my performance at the track because out of the three starts I’ve had there, I’ve have had two engine failures. This year we have partnered with Pro Motor Engines (PME) and I have no doubt in my mind we will be a solid contender for a win.”
PIR has plans to repave their racing surface after the race weekend. Do you think this will make for better racing in the desert? “I think the changes to PIR are going to make for awesome racing. We are already three wide getting into Turn 1 sometimes so I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like getting in there now that the front straight will be even wider. The fans are going to be seeing some exciting racing for sure. The banking change is also going to create faster speeds so I think it will change how we approach the setup on our GunBroker.com Chevrolets.”
