(Photo by Tiffany O'Neall Motorsports Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – LAS CRUCES, N.M. (April 5, 2017) – Joshua Shipley overcame adversity and gained valuable points during the ASCS Southwest Sprint Car Shootout presented by Consolidated Solar Technology last weekend at Southern New Mexico Speedway.
“It was a tough weekend,” he said. “We were really excited about going because that’s one of our sponsor’s tracks and it was paying good money. The first night there were 29 cars and the second there were 30 so it was a good turnout.”
Pill draws didn’t help Shipley and the Alan and Kaylene Verville owned team during the ASCS Southwest Region doubleheader. On Friday, he started fifth in his heat race. A heavy race track made it hard to pass, resulting in a sixth-place finish. Shipley had to run the B Main, in which he advanced from eighth to fifth to earn a transfer into the 19th starting position in the main event.
“The car was awesome and really fast,” he said. “I was coming up through the field quick, but there was a flip on the initial start and once we got going again we went flag to flag. Some cautions would have helped us out.”
Shipley climbed as high as sixth place, but he got stuck behind a lapped car and lost a few spots to finish ninth.
“A top 10 from the last row of the main event was a really good run for us,” he said.
Saturday night started off the same way for Shipley. Another bad pill draw put him in the last row of his heat race. He gained one position in the heat to finish sixth, which relegated him into the B Main again. Shipley advanced to second place, but after falling off the track at one point he finished sixth to record the final transfer position into the A Main.
“I started 20th in the feature and we were really fast again,” he said. “As I was passing for 10th place we got tangled up with another car. My left rear tire blew so we had to go in and change tires. I was able to get back out onto the track and finish 14th.
“Even though our finishes weren’t awesome, we had a really good points weekend. While we didn’t have great luck, there were a couple people that had worse luck.”
Shipley is now ranked fourth in the ASCS Southwest Region championship standings.
He is scheduled to return to action April 22 at Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, Ariz., with the ASCS Southwest Region.
QUICK RESULTS –
Mar. 31 – Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M. – Heat race: 6 (5); B Main: 5 (8); Feature: 9 (19).
Apr. 1 – Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M. – Heat race: 6 (7); B Main: 6 (5); Feature: 14 (20).
SEASON STATS –
6 races, 0 wins, 2 top fives, 4 top 10s, 5 top 15s, 6 top 20s
UP NEXT –
April 22 at Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, Ariz., with the ASCS Southwest Region
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.ShipleyRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShipleyRacing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Joshua-Shipley-Racing-151739011703080
SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT – Mesilla Valley Transportation
Mesilla Valley Transportation is one of the largest transportation providers in Western Texas and New Mexico. The company specializes in time-sensitive service between major manufacturing areas in the United States and Canada and the borders of Mexico. For more information, visit http://www.M-V-T.com.
“Mesilla Valley Transportation and Royal Jones have been partners the past couple seasons with Verville Motorsports,” Shipley said. “We are all glad Royal decided to help us out again for the 2017 season.”
Shipley would also like to thank The Race Shack, Christie Grading & Paving, Up Front Signs, Aero Panache Aircraft Detailing, Smiley Crane Services, Catalina Drywall, 488 Web Designs and Ti22 Performance for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Apr 05, 2017
- Article Date: 4/5/2017 by Inside Line Promotions