Ronnie Bassett, Jr. Sets Focus on Martinsville Grandfather Clock

WINSTON SALEM, NC :: In his second visit to Martinsville Speedway for the prestigious Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300, 17 year old Ronnie Bassett Jr. enters looking for redemption and ready to return his No. 04 Butler Trailer / Rheem / Rex Younger Galleries Ford to victory lane.

With three UARA-STARS victories this season, Ronnie Bassett Jr. has had a short hiatus from his late model stock car as he made his debut into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. In two career starts Bassett recorded his first top ten finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 21^st.

Ronnie Bassett Jr. had to forgo the test session at Martinsville last Wednesday as his Bassett Racing team prepared his K&N machine for Dover International Speedway. Due to the strong field of cars and provisional positions, Bassett was one one-hundredth shy of making the field. “It happens to everyone somewhere down the line. I learned a lot and I really appreciate my team’s dedication to rebuilding the car within a week from Loudon. It just means more determination for Martinsville,” Bassett commented.

During his first appearance in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 last season Ronnie Bassett Jr. was striving to become the youngest winner. Jake Crum is currently the youngest winner at 18, winning the event in 2009. At 17 years old, Bassett is still capable of accomplishing the feat and is ready to join the strong field of late model contenders this weekend.

Last year Ronnie Bassett Jr. had misfortune during qualifying as a rear spring sat outside the spring bucket and gave him a poor starting position for this heat race. “We bounced back from qualifying and we were in the transfer spot during our heat and got spun. We fixed it, made some changes and went out and won the last chance race,” Bassett said.

Winning the last chance race put Bassett starting 33^rd for the main event and he worked his way up to 12^th one lap shy of halfway when he got caught on the outside of the three wide battle sending him for a spin. “We had our car dialed in last year for the feature, I could pass cars on the high side or low line. Unfortunately after halfway we had some miscommunication on scoring, which resulted in the black flag and we came home 30^th. Hopefully this year we stay out of the last chance race and get ourselves a better starting position.”

Ronnie Bassett Jr. and his No. 04 Bassett Racing team will be ready to hit the half mile paperclip in Martinsville, Virginia when the field gets underway for practice Saturday at 1 PM. ‘Qualifying practice’ takes place Saturday at 4 PM, setting the field for the 20 lap heat races beginning Sunday at noon. Eight cars from each heat will advance to the main event, in addition to the top ten in the last chance qualifier.

Follow @Bassettjr_04 and @BassettRacing1 on Twitter for racing updates. Like Bassett Racing on Facebook www.facebook.com/BassettRacing0444. For more information on Ronnie Bassett Jr. and media availability, visit www.RonnieBassettJr04.com or contact [email protected].