QUESTIONABLE CAUTION CAUSES CRASH
May 1, 2001 - Cedar Rapids, IA

The consensus of the ATI Performance Racing Team for the past two weeks was “we just can’t get a break”. In South Boston, ATI Racing’s crew chief, Jack Smith, was not present and the team was struggled to find the correct setup to make the race.

This past weekend the team headed out to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to the Hawkeye Downs Speedway, where J.C. advanced from 18th to 8th in the qualifying race. However, according to J.C.,"Being in the 8th spot in a qualifying race is as close to being in the middle of a tornado in the Midwest”.

Five laps from the finish of the qualifying race, there was a spin and the flagman began to wave the yellow caution flag, but the since there was no contact, the track immediately went green. This sent a wave of confusion around Hawkeye Downs and J.C. fell victim to the incident. As he was in the flow and going around turn 4, the # 41 car of Mike White, suddenly hit the brakes thinking there was a caution flag. As J.C. mashed the brakes attempting to avoid White, when veteran driver, Russ Tuttle collided with J.C., and the "09" was spun out of the race.

As J.C. recalled, "Russ Tuttle was behind us and he obviously had heard no caution, but by then we were nearly stopped, and he spun and ran totally over the back of the car, breaking the battery box out and ripping the body off. We weren't able to continue but we would have made the race in that position." Tuttle's car was still airborne when he hit the wall, but fortunately no one was hurt.

The car has suffered damage in all three qualifying races this year. It just shows how important it is to have the proper set-ups for each track. These things will come with time and J.C. will soon enjoy victory along with the rest of the ATI Race Team. "I am positive that the future looks bright for the team and want to thank everybody in the shop for keeping up the good work."

The team heads to Montgomery, Alabama this weekend and we want to wish J.C. and the guys all the best of luck. Also, be sure to catch J.C. every Saturday morning on “The Checkered Flag” 1570 AM in Baltimore, from 9:00 am 11:00 am where he usually has a 10 to 15 minute spot. For more info on J.C. and the ASA go to www.asaracing.com.

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