The 2016 Power 600 season began this past weekend with two wing races at Canyon Speedway Park as part of the Desert Classic.
Jarrett would start 4th in Heat 2. He would move into 3rd coming out of turn 2 on the start and be side by side for 2nd heading into turn 1 on lap 2. He would complete the pass coming out of turn 2 to move into 2nd and begin the battle for the lead. Jarrett and the leader would be side by side at the line at the half way point and again Jarrett would complete the pass and move into the lead out of turn 2. Jarrett would pull away from the field from there and lead the remaining 3 laps to go on to win Heat 2.
As the night’s top qualifier, Jarrett would end up starting in 6th for the Main. It would take 3 attempts before a green flag lap was completed. On the 2nd attempt one of the cars on the inside row lost control and wasn’t able to regain it in time and as Jarrett was on his outside come up and collided with Jarrett. Jarrett would be able to continue but did sustain a bent front axle. On the 3rd restart, Jarrett would end up falling back to 11th. Jarrett was able to quickly get the handling of the car under control from there and would move into 10th before yet another caution would fly for a spin in turn 1. Jarrett would move into 9th coming to the line on lap 3 and pass two cars to move into 7th on the back stretch on lap 4. There would be one more caution that would bunch the field back up with about 9 laps to go. Fighting an ill handling race car, Jarrett would challenge for 6th but wouldn’t be able to complete the pass and would end the night with a 7th place finish.
Jarrett and crew would spend about 2 hours after the race working on the front end of the car to make sure it was ready to go for Saturday night’s races.
Night 2 would see Jarrett starting on the outside of the pole for Heat race 1. Jarrett wasted no time and charged into the lead by the flag stand and wouldn’t look back. He would lead all 6 laps to win Heat 1 by over 4.5 seconds.
This would again make Jarrett the night’s top qualifier and line him up 6th in the Main. Jarrett moved into the top 5 coming out of turn 4 on the first lap. He would move into 4th on the back stretch heading into turn 3 on lap 3. It would take Jarrett another lap or two to track down the 3rd place car and they would battle for position for about a half lap before Jarrett would make the pass coming out of turn 2 on lap 6. Jarrett would go between a lap car and the 2nd place car to make the pass heading into turn 3 on lap 8 to take over the position. He would then set his sights on the leader, but the first caution would fly with 11 laps to go for a spin in the middle of turns 1 and 2. Jarrett would put a little distance between themselves and the rest of the field and Jarrett would make a few challenges for the lead before the final caution of the night would wave for a spin in turn 2 with 4 to go. Jarrett would fall back a position with 3 to go coming out of turn 2. He would fight to try to get his position back but would run out of laps and finish night 2 in 3rd.
Our next race is March 12th at Canyon Speedway.
Friday Night Track Info:
Car Count: 18
Track Conditions: Heat - Tacky, Main - Dry Slick
Yellow Flags: 4
Saturday Night Track Info:
Car Count: 15
Track Conditions: Heat - Tacky, Main - Dry Slick
Yellow Flags: 2
Points Update:
Points This Weekend: 127
Overall Points: 127
Overall Position: 2nd
+/-: 10 behind 1st, 12 ahead of 3rd
- Darren Ward on Mar 10, 2016
- Article Date: 3/1/2016 by DW Promotions