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MOTORSPORTS TEAM PRESS RELEASE – JMS MOTORSPORTS/CAMRON MENDES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, AUGUST 17 , 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Bill Sullivan: [email protected]
TEAM CONTACT: [email protected]
WEBSITE INFORMATION: www.camronmendes.com
Steering fluid spill ends Mendes’ top ten run early at Placerville for 12th championship point race
By Bill Sullivan
ROHNERT PARK, CA (8-16-08) – At just 17 years old, Rohnert Park’s Camron Mendes has only dreamed of one day racing with drivers of national caliber. Saturday night, the had the opportunity to do so far sooner then he ever expected when four time Knoxville Nationals champion Danny Lasoski showed up at Mendes’ home track of Placerville Speedway along with former World of Outlaws driver Tyler Walker of Los Angeles. The two drivers were on hand for “Morrison Concrete Kids Night” and the 12th championship point race at the track where Mendes has competed all season long in an effort to run with some of the sports’ best drivers. Saturday Mendes raced with more then just California’s best for the first time.
“There were some heavy hitters here tonight and it was a great time running with them, I was so proud of what we did as a team,” said Mendes. “For us to be running 7th in the feature event and chasing down Tyler Walker in a race that is being led by Danny Lasoski…that was really cool. That’s the best we’ve done this year and it was done with us racing against the best drivers.”
Mendes started his evening with a 15th place rank in qualifying, turning an 11:175 second lap. Top performances were tough for many as early as time trials at Placerville on Saturday night as the recent heat and an error in track preparation made for a very challenging surface for all. In heat racing, Mendes secured a starting spot in the 25-lap feature event when he started and maintained the third position in the eight lap preliminary qualifier.
In the feature event, drivers were all gunning for the top position in an event that was worth $2000 to win Saturday night courtesy of area contractor, Morrison Concrete. Mendes was among those drivers but started deep in the field, taking the green flag in the 13th place starting position. With the waving of the green flag the rookie of the year contender began working his way to towards the front of the 20-car pack, using extreme finesse to stay in the hunt on a track surface that was extremely dry and had very poor visibility due to the excessive dust.
On the first lap, Mendes advanced into the 12th position where he remained for several laps before advancing into 11th on the sixth circuit and into the top ten one lap later. On the 14th lap Mendes worked his way into the seventh position and began closing in on Walker for the sixth position entering the final ten laps of the race.
With 19 laps complete, the running order underwent a dramatic change, including Mendes who was forced to drop out of the event as his safety was at risk. Mendes suffered a power steering fluid leak which covered his legs in the cockpit and sent him to the infield on the same lap that Lasoski had blown a rear tire and fell out of the lead. The end result was Mendes finishing in 12th behind the World of Outlaws star.
“I really wanted to get a top five out of the deal, but I thought my leg was on fire,” said Mendes, who has witnessed several drivers catch fire in a similar fashion this year. “It freaked me out because it was burning so bad but it turned out that I had a lot of power steering fluid all over my legs which explains why the car was becoming more difficult to drive in the corners.”
Prior to departing from the field, Mendes was beginning to chase down Walker for the sixth position. Despite the incident he was satisfied with the evening, which included assisting with the kids bicycle races at intermission.
“I’m really proud of this whole team tonight,” said Mendes. “Each week we get better and better and last night was no exception. I’m looking forward to meeting Sammy Swindell and racing with him this week t Placerville. You can learn a lot just from watching those guys and it’s really cool that they are coming Placerville.”
Camron Mendes and the JMS Motorsports #29x sprint car are financially supported by the Schellinger Brothers which can be found at www.parkside-lakeport.com, VSR VanLare Steering Repair of Windsor and A1A Performance Muffler of Santa Rosa. The team would also like to say a huge thank you to Robbie and Donnie Johnson for their recent assistance in repairing the frame of the 29x sprint car. The team is actively seeking additional sponsorship and welcomes you to visit them at any of the upcoming events or check out their website at www.camronmendes.com.
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been watching him lately at pville and i will have to agree he looks good running pville weekly. he not afraid to run the top, bottom and shows improvement every week. nice family too. good luck camron on rookie of the year. you deserve it. 