JC Bounces Back in Houston

Houston, TX - J.C. Beattie Jr. and the ATI Performance Racing Team traveled to Houston for the inaugural Texas 250 at the .375-mile Houston Motor Speedway.

An extra day of practice was granted to allow for teams and drivers to acquaint themselves to this new track. Qualifying was tough as usual, with just .5 seconds covering the field of 33 cars.

Beattie Jr. started 27th and began quickly working his way through the pack only to stop to avoid an early race pile up in front of him. ASA officials initially put J.C. a lap down, but upon post-race review, this was overturned, and the lap was regained. The lap was the difference between his initial 27th position and his rightful finish of 18th.

While wrecks, spins, and crashes on the short track were the order of the day, the #09 was expertly maneuvered around the oval to finish unscathed. Beattie Jr. paced the leaders' time after pitting for fresh tires, but was robbed of a higher finish due to the earlier loss of a lap.

Kevin Cynwinski took the lead on lap 158 of 250 and went on to win the Texas 250.

ATI Performance Racing will head to the Concord Motorsports Park in North Carolina for the third event of the 2003 ASA Racing Series. The BF Goodrich 250 will take the green flag at 9:00 PM EST on April 26th and will telecast live on SPEED Channel.