In what some would say a trying season, both the Performance Motorsports Rookies, Jose Luis Ramirez and Nick DeFazio ended the 2004 NASCAR Grand National season on a high note.
Driving the Rayere, King Taco Restaurants, Del Valle, # 17 Ford Taurus, Jose Luis finished in the top ten in his first full year of campaigning NASCAR stock cars on ovals after making the transition from trans-am style road course racing. The former trans-am and karting champion from Mexico City edged out fellow competitor Gene Woods by eight points to make it. "I am truly honored to be in such good company sitting in the top ten in points" said Jose. "The level of competition is much tougher than what I have been racing back home" he added.
Jose started the Pipetrades 150 from the 14th qualifying position and ran in the top ten before a drive-through penalty put him a lap down and a late race incident landed him in the turn four wall. He managed to finish in the 16th position.
Nick DeFazio started in the 12th spot after knocking 3/10's off his practice time for the fast field. Driving the # 77 Pipetrades, King Taco, Cardenas Markets Ford Taurus, Nick drove a steady race and managed to get in to the top five before suffering a fate similar to his teammate. "I don't know why they called me for a drive through penalty" said Nick. NASCAR officials admitted later that it may have been a mistake. Nick finished the year out in 12th place in the championship points battle making him eligible for the All-Star Showdown.
Performance Motorsports and all it's team members would like to thank the sponsors that made this season possible. Starting with Mission Foods and Guerrero Food Products, this company has been a longtime sponsor of Performance Motorsports since the days in the Southwest Tour. We are very grateful for their support. King Taco Restaurants came aboard two years ago and this year although they were busy building new restaurants they still supported the team in all the local races. CPMCA and the Pipetrades were always there when we needed them. We have always been able to count on those great guys for support. Auto Marine Engineering has managed to provide awesome power and reliability to make sure that we were always ready to compete. Rayere Pharmaceuticals and Jugos Del Valle came from Mexico and adapted well to NASCAR style racing. Lucas Oil Products helped us this year. This company puts out a fine line of High-Performance racing lubricants. Superior Gear handles all our differential gears and set-ups and never failed us. They were also the primary sponsor in Erie, Colorado. Stoughton Printing handled our marketing packages and our media hand-outs and have shown that they are a top-notch supplier of these materials. Cardenas Markets has risen to the challenge of this series and provided support for this team is more ways than one. Frank's Radio Service kept our lines of communication open with our drivers at all times. Great Associate sponsor. Joor Bros Metal Service provided building materials to keep these cars in excellent condition. Eibach Springs, Tilton Engineering, Wilwood Brakes, Race Car Factory and Intouch Signs also provided much needed support throughout the year
The team would be remiss to not honor all the long hours of work that was put into the team by it's members. Larry Nava, crew chief for the # 17, Tom Label, crew chief & team manager for the # 77, Tom Stanton, team manager # 17, Sam Arciero, Chuck Earl, Ryan Sebek, Marty Shackleford, Dave & Melissa Olson, Dennis Simonian, Jared Liska, Jan Helsel, Kenny Earl, Nacho Bustos and Gary Lumpkins. The dedication of these team members and their significant others are what made this a successful year for Performance Motorsports.
