PRESS RELEASE – JMS MOTORSPORTS/CAMRON MENDES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JUNE 14, 2009
MEDIA CONTACT: Bill Sullivan: [email protected]
TEAM CONTACT: Jim Cartwight: [email protected]
WEBSITE INFORMATION: www.camronmendes.com
Mendes garners another top ten finish in Placerville Speedway championship race #8
ROHNERT PARK, CA – Rohnert Park's Camron Mendes returned to the 2009 Placerville Speedway championship campaign Saturday night and managed to earn his 3
rd top ten finish of the season despite his share of challenges throughout the night. With the season nearing the halfway point, Mendes holds the 11
th position in the overall point standings at the track that is one of Northern California's toughest bullrings to master even for the most weathered competitors.
Driving the JMS Motorsports - Rose Law Firm-Cartwright Builders, #29x sprint car, Mendes turned a quality pair of laps in time trials with the fastest of both circuits clocking in at 10:673 second with a speed of 84.325 miles per hour around the clay oval at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. While Mendes' lap was a quality effort, it seemed nearly every driver Saturday night mastered qualifying; former track champion Andy Forsberg turned a 10:200 second lap to earn fast time later in the program. In the end, Mendes finished 13
th in the preliminary portion of the program and was just .473 of second behind fast time.
"I came out of qualifying feeling really good, the car felt very fast and the set up felt great," said Mendes. "I felt like I turned a really good lap. Then I saw the end results and it turned out that almost everyone had really good times."
In heat race competition, Mendes pulled to the front of the field and led the eight lap qualifier from start to finish. Among the drivers in the field for the event were three former track champions who are known for great success at Placerville including Mike Henry, Joey Magaruh and Andy Forsberg. When the checkered flag waved Mendes held off the trio of recent titlists with Henry finishing second followed by Magaruh and Forsberg finishing in fifth place.
"I was very happy with our performance in the heat race," said Mendes. "Holding off Mike Henry for the win meant a lot to me. Mike is a very competitive driver and he knows Placerville very well, it felt good to hold him off. I feel like we could have done better in our main event though."
In the 25-lap A-feature, multiple caution flags paused the event preventing every competitor from establishing a strong run to gain the momentum needed to advance in the field. Mendes started in the 10
th position. During the race, negotiating lapped traffic and avoiding a number of incidents resulted in a loss of track position in the early running. Mendes fell to the 16
th position. In the waning laps the 18-year-old Cardinal Newman High School Senior used both patience and determination to charge his way back through the field. At the checkered flag, Mendes finished in the 10
th position.
"I think we are still struggling when it comes to moving forward in the feature events," said Mendes. "It seems like we are just right there on top of the set up and technique but we just need a little more to get over the edge and be very competitive. We didn't qualify well to begin with and when you don't qualify well at Placerville it seems to hurt you all night long. We'll be back to keep at it in a couple of weeks."
This weekend, Mendes and the JMS Motorsports #29x sprint car will head to Quincy to compete at the scenic American Valley Speedway. The event is the fourth round of the traveling Civil War Sprint Car Series. Mendes is currently eighth in the standings, only 52-points from the point lead. The Civil War Series features the top 360 drivers from throughout Northern California at five different tracks throughout the season. Mendes will also compete in the series on July 3 at Petaluma Speedway before returning to point racing action Placerville Speedway for the US Army July Fourth event.
JMS Motorsports appreciates all of their current sponsors for their strong support. Including, the Rose Law Firm of Folsom, Cartwright Builders of Rohnert Park, RPM Racing Photos of Placerville, Sparky's Collision Center of Santa Rosa and VSR Steering Repair of Santa Rosa. The team appreciates each of their crew members including Jerry Stewart who offers his assistance at and away from the track and Sean "Stymie" Pratt who has assisted the team with set ups this season that have greatly improved the performance this talented young driver.
Those interested in learning more about Camron Mendes, or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities can do so by visiting the official team website at
www.camronmendes.com. Sponsorship inquiries can also be sent directly to:
[email protected]. Further information on Placerville Speedway can be found at
www.placervillespeedway.com.
Camron Mendes won his heat race and finished 10th in the feature event at Placerville Speedway Saturday night
Photo by Steve Lamothe, www.stevesracingphotos.com
