Jake Crum started at the rear of the field but raced his way to a third place finish in Friday night’s CARS Super Late Model race at Tri-County Motor Speedway.
Crum entered the race driving a Super Late Model prepared by Jamie Yelton and Fat Head Racing. While Yelton’s Super Late Model program is young, the team has already had success with David Garbo, Jr. winning a race at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway in February. Crum has also had success in Super Late Model racing in the past – primarily at Tennessee’s Newport Speedway.
However, the evening started on a down note for the 2009 Martinsville 300 winner. Rain washed out qualifying forcing Crum to start at the rear of the field. In a 100 lap race, Crum needed to get up through the field in a hurry and he did just that, racing his way to a third place finish.
“I knew we had a good car after the first practice,” Crum said after the race. “I didn’t know we had that good a car. We didn’t get to qualify. A few cars qualified, we didn’t, so we started by points. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any points so, unfortunate for us. We worked our way through the field and tried to manage tires.”
Crum didn’t waste time trying to get to the front. He knew he had a fast car and a short distance race to get it done. Crum felt he could have possibly had a shot for the win if one more caution had come out in the late stages of the race.
“That’s what you have to do when you start at the rear and have one of the fastest cars, you have no choice,” Crum stated. “I knew we had a good car, I was hoping for another caution, I think we could have done something there.”
While Friday night’s race was Crum’s first in a Super Late Model driving for Jamie Yelton, it was not the first time he and Yelton have worked together. Crum finished second in a Late Model Stock Car race at Hickory Motor Speedway driving for Yelton on May 23rd.
