Saturday at All American Speedway started out as any other race day for TCR and Jason Fensler, driver of the #59 Beat Cancer Chevrolet. The team was excited to debut the Beat Cancer car which featured several cancer awareness ribbons on the hood, and names and ribbons of fan submitted cancer victims and survivors and hoped for a solid finish in the 150 lap NASCAR K&N Pro Series race.
"We battled hard all race long and fought our way up to fourth late in the race. It was just hard racing and everyone trying whatever they could to finish well and we spun around. The result doesn’t show how good the car was or how hard the team worked."— Jason Fensler
Unfortunately, things did not go as hoped. Fensler was first on the board for a majority of the first practice but after bringing the car in for a few adjustments dropped down to ninth. Second practice, he was sixth fastest. He had a disheartening qualifying time of 14.174 positioning him to start in 20th, barely earning a spot in the 24 car field. “Qualifying was a disappointment. It’s something I need to work on to gain us better track position,” Fensler said after his run. But all hope was not lost. In the previous race in April at AAS, Fensler battled up the line from 15th to win the event.
The race was brought in with grand flair. The National Anthem was accompanied by equestrians donning American flags and fireworks. Just as the race was underway, the first incident of the night occurred before one lap was completed, seemingly to foreshadow the rest of the night for many teams. Fensler managed to avert several accidents and battled his way up the line to fourth position. The car was not unharmed with all the movement. A large piece of the yellow bumper was pulled off in the action and remained on the hood #6 of Martinez for the remainder of the race. Things were looking to end well, when on lap 145, just five laps to go, Fensler spun in turn four and when the yellow flag came out, he was sent to the back of the line for the restart.
NASCAR restarted the race with the infamous green-white-checker, and several cars tangled including Fensler, however, the checker flag flew and ended the race. When the dust settled, Fensler finished 16th. After the race Fensler said. “We battled hard all race long and fought our way up to fourth late in the race. It was just hard racing and everyone trying whatever they could to finish well and we spun around. The result doesn’t show how good the car was or how hard the team worked.”
Despite the frustration of the finish, the team was proud of their cancer tribute. After the race, several fans came to the pit to take pictures with the tribute ribbon of their loved one. It was a touching experience for the team to meet them and hear their stories of loss, hope and survival. “It was a huge honor to drive the car with the names of fighters, survivors, and the loved ones we have lost to cancer. It was humbling to have the chance to meet some of the people that were on the car,” Fensler stated.
TCR and Jason Fensler would like to thank all the fans who came out to show their support and who shared their cancer experiences. And a thank you to MTFX Graphics for their contribution and sponsorship of the Beat Cancer tribute.
The Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Pick-N-Pull will air on Speed Channel on Thursday, October 20th at 4pm PST. The next event and final race of the season will take place on November 12th at Phoenix International Raceway.
