AUROA, Oregon — Jim Warn, driver of the GPI Performance.Com Chevrolet, is in his second year of competition in the NASCAR Camping World Series-West and is having the opportunity to see many of the series’ tracks for the second time. That knowledge paid off this past Saturday, as Warn scored his third top ten finish of the season and second consecutive top ten effort at the half-mile paved oval outside Roseburg, Oregon. The finish vaulted Warn into the tenth position in the point standings after six races.
"Everyone really fought the same issues out there and I know that finishing this race makes me a better driver. Now it’s on to Infineon!"— Jim Warn
Warn qualified for the 150-lap Toyota/Bi-Mart sponsored race in the 12th position after the team changed the setup on the car after struggling with push condition throughout both practice sessions earlier in the day. The changes helped the push but caused a loose condition that Warn would battle for the entire event.
Over the opening laps of the race Warn allowed his tires to heat up and find where the car would run the best. He quickly settled into a groove and just started to log laps and let the race unfold in order to set himself up for a run to the finish.
Warn moved into the top ten around lap 40 where he would run the reminder of the event. Midway through the race he lost a lap to the leaders but quickly recovered when the third caution flew on lap 94 allowing him to get back on the lead lap.
Over the final 50-laps of the race Warn battled door to door with Greg Pursley and Jamie Dick finally wrestling the 9th position away from Dick and closed on Pursley for the eighth position. Warn crossed the finish line in the ninth position for his third top ten finish of the season and more importantly moved up to tenth in the championship standings.
“The car was really loose and had very little grip off the corners,” Warn stated. “I had to drive a different line then I would have liked but we made it work. We made a lot of changes to the car during practice and Roger (Bracken) and the team did a great job; it was just a hard track to get a hold of.”
While a ninth place finish was not the plan, Warn drove perhaps one of his better races this season. “The car was hard to handle but I learned plenty at the same time,” Warn offered. “Everyone really fought the same issues out there and I know that finishing this race makes me a better driver. Now it’s on to Infineon!”
Warn drives for MJ2 Racing and is sponsored by GPI Performance.Com and Leupold Optic. The car is powered by a Chevrolet NASCAR Spec Engine built by Brad “Freight Train” Peters and sits atop a Hopkins chassis. Warn is in his second year of competition in the NCWS with seven top ten finishes in 18 career NCWS starts.
Next up for Jim Warn and MJ2 Racing is the Bennett Lane Winery “200” at Infineon Raceway and is the first of three road course events this season. The race is scheduled for Saturday, June 20 and is a companion event to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the picturesque road course in northern California. The Roseburg race will be broadcast on SPEED Channel June 18 at 12noon PT. Check local listings for date and time in your area. 2009 is the 56th year of competition for the NASCAR Camping World Series-West and for all the latest news and information regarding Jim Warn, log onto www.mj2racingcom and check out www.gpiperformance.com for all of your automotive aftermarket performance parts and accessories.
