3/28/2017
Inside Line Promotions
Shipley Overcomes Problems to Earn First-Career ASCS Southwest Region Top Five
(Photo by Ron Gilson)
Inside Line Promotions – CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (March 28, 2017) – Joshua Shipley is battle-tested through the first three races of the ASCS Southwest Region schedule.
“We’ve had a lot of trials against us, struggles that were unforeseen,” he said. “Everything that we’ve done feels like we’ve been trialed. The team just puts our heads down and gets to work. This bad luck keeps hitting us and at the end of the night we’re persevering.”
Shipley and the Alan and Kaylene Verville owned team have battled through a variety of problems and bad luck during three regional events this month, beginning on March 4 at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz. Shipley placed fourth in a heat race, which lined him up on the outside of the fifth row for the main event.
“I was pretty rusty,” he said. “It had rained the week before and the infield was full of water. Twice water got splashed across the track and I almost spun out. It was tough to really get going, but we survived with a top 10.”
Shipley advanced a pair of positions to post an eighth-place finish.
A week later, on March 11, the team ventured to Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, Ariz., where Shipley powered to a heat race victory. That earned enough points to make the feature redraw, in which he pulled the highest number – eight – available during the random redraw to start the main event on the outside of the fourth row.
“We came out of the box hot,” he said. “We turned the fastest time in hot laps, won the heat race and then I drew an eight. In the feature we were doing pretty good and gaining ground on the leaders, but we broke a u-joint. That gets pretty violent in the car. The part that exploded nailed me in the left foot.”
Shipley was in contention for at least a top five when the problem occurred, which knocked him out of the race early with a 17th-place result.
The team rebounded last Saturday at Central Arizona Speedway, where Shipley once again had to overcome issues.
“The whole night started off crazy,” he said. “Usually it takes us an hour to get to the track, but we had to take a detour and it took us two hours to get there. Then we had an MSD box go bad on us and we missed hot laps.”
The team fixed the problem before the heat race, in which Shipley advanced from fifth to third place. That was good enough to make the feature redraw.
“Halfway through the heat race I could smell coolant,” he said. “A rock had punched a hole in the radiator. Then of course we drew an eight again in the redraw. Things just weren’t lining up well for us.
“We went two starts in the main event and both times I went from eighth to fourth coming out of turn two, but crashes happened so we had complete restarts. The third start finally stuck and it was good for everyone. I had to pick my way through. We had the speed, but the track was locked down.”
Shipley maneuvered from eighth to a fifth-place result, which was his first career top five with the series. He now ranks fifth in the ASCS Southwest Region championship standings.
The team is scheduled to return to action this Friday and Saturday at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M., with the ASCS Southwest Region.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 4 – Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz. – Heat race: 4 (3); Feature: 8 (10).
March 11 – Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, Ariz. – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 17 (8).
March 25 – Central Arizona Speedway in Casa Grande, Ariz. – Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 5 (8).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 2 top fives, 3 top 10s, 3 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M., 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 SPOTLIGHT – Up Front Signs
Up Front Signs, which is owned by Shipley’s car owner, Alan Verville, is located in Avondale, Ariz.
“Up Front Signs is the No. 1 sponsor of our race team and we’re very grateful for the support,” Shipley said. “Anyone who needs stickers, graphic work or signs for their business should reach out to Alan because his business does great work.”
Shipley would also like to thank The Race Shack, Christie Grading & Paving, Aero Panache Aircraft Detailing, Smiley Crane Services, Mesilla Valley Transportation, 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.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
