Morgan Happy To Head Home To Caraway
Wednesday, June 20 2012 @ 08:32 PM EDT
Jones, Gibson Making CARS Pro Cup Series Returns This Saturday
By Adam Fenwick – adam@carsprocup.com, CARS Pro Cup Series Public Relations Director
ASHEBORO, N.C. – It’s been a good year so far for CARS Pro Cup Series veteran J.P. Morgan.
He started the season with a trip to victory lane at South Carolina’s Anderson Motor Speedway, his fourth career series victory. Since then he has put together finishes of fourth at Hickory Motor Speedway, second at Ace Speedway and third at Motor Mile Speedway.
As a result of his impressive run of consistency, Morgan finds himself on top of the CARS Pro Cup Series standings heading into Saturday’s CARS Pro Cup 250 presented by CV Products at Caraway Speedway, which happens to be the home track of Morgan and the J&R Racing team.
“Caraway is right by our shop,” Morgan said. “It’s a home track for us. We’re really excited to go back there. We’ve got a lot of family and friends, a lot of support there. We’ve also got a lot of laps there, which is going to make a huge difference. Can’t wait to go there.”
Caraway Speedway may prove to be an unknown for many series regulars. This will be the first trip to the .455-mile asphalt oval since a pair of events in 1998 and 1999. Chad Chaffin won the 1998 event while Michael Ritch claimed the 1999 event.
While the CARS Pro Cup Series will be making its return to Caraway, two drivers will be making their returns to the series.
Blake Jones, the 2011 CARS Pro Cup Series Rookie of the Year, will return to the series behind the wheel of the No. 36 Wes Gonder Racing Chevrolet. John Gibson, who last raced in the series during the 2010 season, will be back behind the wheel of his No. 13.“I was actually at work when I got the call (from Wes Gonder),” said Jones. “He called and wanted to know if I’d be interested in coming and running his race car. We came so close last year so many times. Hopefully we go pick up a win, that’s what our expectations are for my team and for Wes.”
Gibson, who finished fifth in the series standings in 2010, is hoping to shake the cobwebs out of his racer after taking the 2011 season off.
“We’re a family owned team, we always have been, the money just wasn’t there (in 2011),” Gibson said. “One of the things that brought us back is that the series is still pretty much the highest paying series out there. They pay better than PASS, they pay better than UARA.
“We kind of looked at it and said we want to go racing, we’ve got all of this equipment, the funding is there now, why don’t get back into the series,” Gibson continued. “We decided, sure, let’s try it. We’re pretty excited about it.”
Others on the entry list for Saturday’s race at Caraway Speedway include Allen Purkhiser, who is only 20 points behind Morgan in the championship standings, rookie contender Nathan Russell, Hickory race winner Tyler Young and many more.Gates for Saturday’s CARS Pro Cup 250 presented by CV Products open at 5 p.m. with qualifying scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. An on-track driver autograph session is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. The CARS Pro Cup 250, featuring 250 laps of intense racing action, will go green at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for Saturday’s event can be purchased online for $12 through Thursday by visiting www.carsprocup.com. Tickets can be purchased for $15 at the track on the day of the event. Kids under the age of 12 are free.
For more information, please contact Public Relations Director Adam Fenwick at adam@carsprocup.com or 828-329-6050.
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