NEWTON, NC :: After a bit of uncertainty going into the Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway, DJ Shaw made the most of first start at the historic speedway, making a charge to the front early and leading laps to an eventual second place finish.
The weekend didn’t start out quite as the Precision JLM team planned though, after struggling in practice on Friday. The team didn’t quit however, and kept adjusting on the #60 Mustang right up until the feature event, fine tuning the new car they named “Eleanor” to perfection for the 150 lapper.
After qualifying 12th, Shaw made his way to the front quickly, cracking the top five by lap 30. On lap 82, Shaw made his way around fellow Maine driver Trevor Sanborn for the race lead, and paced the 30 car field around the 3/8th mile track. The two would swap the lead through the races mid stages, and former Easter Bunny winner Preston Peltier joined the two in the fight for the lead. After sitting in third for the races final restarts, Shaw fought hard, and ended the race in second behind Peltier when the checkered flag flew.
“It was tough for us to save our tires after starting 12th we had to come from a long way back,” explained Shaw after the runner up finish, “we got a little too loose there at the end but we stayed in the hunt and almost got us a win.”
With the runner up finish, Shaw moves into the PASS National points lead. The Precision JLM team will now focus on their next event on April 21st closer to home at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine for the PASS North Series season opener. Shaw closed the 2012 campaign with a runner up finish at Oxford Plains and is looking for one spot better in the next event.
