Clements Out to Prove He is Still a Top Young Gun
By Burke Noel, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, February 8, 2006SPARTANBURG, SC (February 8, 2006) – Jeremy Clements isn’t going to take his foot off the accelerator much this season.
The Spartanburg driver, who just turned 21, feels time is running out in the race to show potential Nextel Cup and Busch owners he’s still one of the sport’s top young guns.
“This is definitely the year I need to show what I’ve got,” said Clements, whose team purchased a former Dale Earnhardt Jr. car during the offseason to boost its ARCA effort.
“Before I know it, I’m going to be getting too old and those Cup teams aren’t going to want me. So, I’ve got to do something right now.”
Clements will hit 10 to 15 ARCA races and possibly five Busch Series events as he looks to put his name back on the map as one of NASCAR’s rising stars.
He will concentrate on the high-speed 1- to 1.5-mile layouts and super speedways on asphalt. Clements will also travel to several high-dollar super late model events throughout the Southeast as he gets in as much wheel time as possible during the second year of his speedy comeback.
Before Clements injured his hand in July 2004, he swiftly moved through the competitive ranks of dirt late model racing and asphalt.
He posted four top-10 finishes in his first eight ARCA starts. On May 22, 2003, he raced from 33rd to third in a 100-mile event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Two months later, Clements reached the Triple-A level of NASCAR in just his six asphalt race and finished a respectable 31st in the Busch Series race at Pikes Peak, Colo.
At age 18, his name was being mentioned with the likes of Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers, two drivers who’ve established themselves on the Nextel Cup circuit.
David Ifft, a veteran Cup crew chief who turned wrenches for Benny Parsons, Darrell Waltrip and David Pearson, doesn’t think the comparisons were out of line.
“He’s got his act together. Everything he does, he does professionally,” Ifft said.
