Jeremy Clements Hangs 10 in Nashville

Jeremy Clements, the 19 year-old teen sensation and driving phenom, left Nashville Superspeedway without the guitar he hoped to claim but he earned an impressive top-10 finish against the “big guns” in the ARCA RE/MAX Series PFG Lester 150.

Clements entered Friday’s race with the odds stacked against him.  He was not only attempting his 7th RE/MAX Series start at an event filled with ARCA veterans and Busch/Nextel Cup competitors, but it was also the first time he would make laps in a new car.

“We just purchased this car from Andy Petree Racing.  It was a last minute deal and they helped us rush to get things together,” stated Clements, “We were unable to test but I have faith in the guys at APR and my team to help me shake the bugs out.”  Clements’ only other start at Nashville came at the 2003 PFG Lester 150 when the team had a good run until they were involved in an accident that resulted in a disappointing 35th place finish.

Clements and his No. 3 team struggled with a late entry into practice and ended the session with a disappointing 35th place ranking.  The determined crew continued to work hard on their entry as Jeremy regained the feel for the pavement since he spends his weekends slinging mud in dirt late models.  Their efforts resulted in a 21st place starting spot.

“I knew that we had a lot of ground to make up in the race, but I was really confident in the adjustments we made and that we had a car that could get to the front. We just needed to really try and make up some time on our pit stops.  We gambled and pitted off the pace of others and it worked this time,” stated Clements.

Clements steadily worked his way through the field and was running as high as third place when late-race cautions provided an opportunity for fresh tires. Clements commented, “I really needed fresh tires.  Mine were just shot but we couldn’t sacrifice another set for that short run so I had to stick with a set that had over 70 laps on them.  I knew I was a sitting duck against these guys with fresh rubber but we worked hard all day to get up front and I was going to do anything possible to finish there.”

While Clements did lose precious positions on the final restart, he was able to cross the line with an 8th place finish.  It was an amazing run for the Ken Appling owned No. 3 team in their first event of the season.  The team feels that they left a lot on the table at Nashville and they are looking ahead and trying to get additional support for the upcoming Channel 5 – 205 at Kentucky Speedway on May 8th.

Sponsors include Broadway Motor Company, Hamrick Industries, One Stop Convenience Stores and ChiropracticMotorsports.com.  Horsepower came from none other than the Clements’ family stable – the House of Power.  Please stay tuned for the re-launch of www.jeremyclementsracing.com.