PAHULE AND STONE COME FROM BEHIND TO BIG CALIFORNIA SPEEDWEEK PERFORMANCE

BRENTWOOD, CALIFORNIA (July 3, 2019) – 12 year-old Jeffrey Pahule, Jr. and his teammate and mentor Austin Stone turned a difficult opening night of the Hoosier Tire California Speedweek into a Cinderella comeback over the final three nights, with the Teletech Communications-backed drivers both finishing in the top-ten in the standings. All told, the final three nights of the Speedweek saw Pahule and Stone pass a combined 33 cars in the main events.

The trouble started early at Dixon Speedway when Jeffrey Pahule, Jr. was unable to qualify in his Ten-J Chassis due to a throttle issue. Recording 0 points, he was forced to start at the back of his heat race. He navigated through an early incident then showed a lot of speed on the way to a second place finish. The goose-egg in qualifying relegated him to the B Main, however, where he again drove from an eighth starting position to a second place finish. The passing assault continued when Pahule drove from 20th to tenth in the 25 lap feature, wowing many in attendance.

Stone on the other hand looked poised to continue his strong Speedweek career after timing in eighth quick and lining up seventh for the main event. Mechanical troubles prevented him from taking the green flag for a disappointing DNS.

With a turnaround solely on their minds, they turned their attention to Wednesday’s race at Delta Speedway in Stockton. Pahule ran seventh in qualifying out of 33 cars and finished third in his heat race. He ran ninth to seventh in the fast-paced 25 lap feature to advance to 17th in the overall standings after two nights of racing. Stone ran 14th in qualifying and narrowly made the feature as the 16th starting car. He overcame his starting position by darting through the pack to a well-deserved fifth place finish.

After the Thursday off day to prepare for the weekend, the team headed south to Keller Auto Raceway in Visalia. Drawing a 35 pill, Pahule qualified 18th but advanced from fifth to third in the heat race to start 14th in the feature. The main event was yet another passing clinic for Pahule as drivers struggled to get off the bottom of the race track. The young driver used the outside line to advance to eighth at the checkered flag. Meanwhile Stone qualified second in Non Wing competition and finished fifth in the feature event.

Both drivers had top-ten points finishes well within reach when they headed to the final stop at Lemoore Raceway on Saturday night. Stone qualified 12th but a win in his heat race qualified him for the top-four redraw. The redraw slotted him second and he led all the way for the 30 lap, $1000 feature win in dominating fashion. The victory sealed a seventh place finish in the standings and awarded him his second career Speedweek bear.

Pahule’s Lemoore night was one of his most uneventful so far, qualifying fifth and finishing third in the main event. The third place finish narrowly handed him tenth in the standings by just one point.

Pahule will aim to continue his championship run at Dixon Speedway with another points race on deck for Saturday night!

Jeffrey Pahule wants to thank: Mom, Dad, Teletech Communications, NorCal Builders, Shawn Laeber with Motion Media Wraps, Joe W. Lewis Snap-On Tools, Russ Seros with Seros Racing Engines, and Austin Stone.