The Jim Pettit Racing/HotWood 03 battled from the back of the field Saturday night to finish 5th at Irwindale Speedway. This was the 6th race of the 14-race season, the Auto Zone Southwest Series' only trip to the "fastest half-mile in the west" before the Toyota All-Star Shoot-Out.
The 03 crew unloaded the future of Jim Pettit Racing around 9:40AM Saturday morning. New cars come wit new problems and this one had its share. Though they worked hard before and during the two practice sessions, the crew could not figure out exactly what was wrong with the car. Relying on the experience of crew chief Duane Sharp and engine builder Ted Yamashiro, the team was confident they had fixed the problem when the car went out for qualifying. When qualifying was over the good news was the problem was fixed. The bad news was that the newly found power was breaking the car loose. After a lot of counsel, the team decided to bring the car back and make some necessary changes before the main event. This meant Pettit would start the race in the 24th position.
The car was still a little loose for the start of the main event, but Pettit quickly started working his way towards the front. Before the caution flag flew on Lap 11, Pettit had already made his way into the 20th position. The first caution saw the night end for the #23 of Dan Holtz. Four other cars were involved with the crash. When the field re-started on Lap #22 Pettit was in the 16th spot. On Lap # 24 Pettit used the low groove to get around the # 04 of part time Series driver Stephan Sadler. On Lap # 26 the low groove was working again as Pettit made quick work of the # 62 of Holmes. It was only a few Laps later on Lap # 32 that the # 37 of Keith Spangler watched the # 03 pull away. Three Laps later Pettit went high to try to make his way around 2003 champion Auggie Vidovich. These two racers put on a great show for the fans as they raced side by side for 25 Laps. During the battle the two were able to make their way into the top 10. Lap #60 brought the crowd to their feet as the points leader and 2001 champion Craig Raudman missed a gear and spun into the grass between Turns 3 and 4. The yellow came out. Raudman who was in the 2nd position when he spun was able to quickly right the car and remain in the 4th position. Raudman would end the night in the 2nd position behind Lamar and extend his lead in the points to 47 over Pettit. Green flag action started on Lap #67, and Pettit followed Vidovich in the 9th position. Again the two raced hard until the #99 got involved with Lapped traffic and Pettit moved to the 7th position. Pettit followed Vidovich over the next 35 Laps until the final yellow came out with just over 10 Laps remaining. When the final green flag flew on Lap # 142, Pettit battled hard to get by the #59 and the #12 of Rip Michaels to finish in the 5th position.
Pettit remains in 2nd position in points and looks to Infineon to make his next move back to the front of the standings. With only one finish out of the top 10, the 03 looks to keep up the pressure on current points leader, Craig Raudman. Jim Pettit Racing recognizes California HotWood, LRP, DPI, Top of the Hill Performance and all of the team's Fans, Friends and Family. As always the team invites everybody to meet Jim and the rest of the 03 crew in the pits after the next race at Infinion Raceway on June 26th.
