Jessica Cann enjoyed the best run of her brief Solid Rock Carriers CARS LMSC Tour career on Saturday evening by surviving the late-race chaos of the Radley Chevrolet 125 at Dominion Raceway to bring her #19 Black Acid Apparel Chevrolet home in 10th.
Cann’s goal for the weekend was to learn more about Dominion and improve upon her showing in last year’s event in which she finished 18th four laps down, but she was thrilled to keep her car out of trouble and turn in her first CARS LMSC Tour Top 10.
“Dominion was a pretty tough track to figure out,” Cann said. “We were able to keep the nose clean and keep up with the field. We had a lot more confidence going into the race this year than we did last year, that’s for sure.”
Although 2019 marked the first time that she had ever driven any kind of racecar, Cann and her new team elected to compete full-time in the CARS LMSC Tour so she could gain experience alongside former champions like Josh Berry, Bobby McCarty and Deac McCaskill.
Cann did not want to be too aggressive in her debut CARS LMSC Tour season and often rode around at the back to keep her car out of trouble. Cann qualified for seven of the nine races she entered in 2019 and managed to secure a then-career best finish of 15th in the season-ending AutosByNelson.com 250 at South Boston Speedway.
Cann admitted that she has grown more comfortable behind the wheel during the 2020 CARS LMSC Tour season, which has allowed her to hold steady with other regulars such as Ronald Hill and Jonathan Findley, who won his first career race at Dominion on Saturday night.
The increase in speed has been a welcomed development for Cann, who is doing everything possible to earn respect on the track and improve her speed so she can regularly compete for Top 10s against the rookies and veterans of the CARS LMSC Tour.
“I haven’t really focused on one area,” Cann said. “I’m just trying to develop my overall talent, but I wanted to keep up with the pack at Dominion and improve on my times. Last year we qualified about a second and a half off from the guy in front of me, and this year we were only two or three tenths off.”
Despite the Radley Chevrolet 125 turning into an attrition race due to multiple tire failures, Cann said that she and crew never envisioned leaving with a Top 10 at the end of the evening, adding that Saturday’s performance was a testament to all of the hard work she and crew have put in towards making their Late Models better.
Cann understands that more work needs to be done before Top 10s become a more frequent occurrence, but she is cautiously optimistic that another strong run will become a reality on Aug. 22 when the CARS LMSC Tour makes their inaugural trip to Franklin County Speedway.
“Franklin County is a little bit different than anywhere else we’ve been to,” Cann said. “We don’t even know where it is on the map, but we’re excited to go to a new track since we spent all of last year doing that. I hope I’m on more of a level playing field than everyone else since almost none of the CARS Tour guys have been there, but the guys with the talent are going to rise to the top.”
Cann will be debuting a brand new Late Model for next weekend’s CARS LMSC Tour event at Franklin County, which will carry a special paint scheme paying tribute to veterans along with soldiers who are missing in action or prisoners of war.
