AVONDALE, Arizona -- Second year driver Jose Luis Ramirez showed just how cool he could drive under pressure in the 2005 season opening”United Rentals 100” for the NASCAR Grand National West Series.
After getting hailed out during Saturday’s one and only practice session, Jose was able to qualify his Del Valle, Food City, Mission Foods AME and Superior Gear 2004 Ford Taurus in the 17th position. “We didn’t have our best qualifying attempt on Sunday morning” said Jose. “ We didn’t get very much practice and we made quite a f few changes to our car after our session on Saturday.” He added.
Jose drove a steady race making some great passes through out the 100-lap feature race. “ It was a thrill for me to race with the Nextel Cup veterans and the rest of the large field that entered the Copper Classic. I feel that there is a lot of interest in our series and I look forward to the added competition this coming season.”
The race had only one caution period on lap 27. The top six contenders elected to stay out and that strategy proved to be the decree that eliminated Jose from competition on lap 88. “We ran a different engine combination and because of the lack of practice, weren’t able to get accurate fuel calculations. We went off of what was run last year and we came up short.” said crew chief Bob Johns. “ I’m really proud of the way Jose ran and kept his cool even after we had to pit. This team and driver have a lot of potential and it showed early this year. I’m looking forward to the next race at Mesa Marin.”
The United Rentals 100 was seen live on HDNET. The next telecast of this event can be found on the Speedvision calendar. The next West Series race will take place at the ½ mile Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California April 9th for the Lucas Oil 150.
