There wasn’t anything that Bailey Jacobs could’ve done to make his first season of stock car racing more successful.
When the checkered flag waved to wrap-up Peterborough Speedway’s 2015 campaign, the talented freshman from Warsaw, Ontario had earned his place in the history books of Canada’s Toughest 1/3-Mile Paved Oval as he left the season-ending awards banquet with the Paul Davis Systems Thunder Car Rookie of the Year and the division’s Hard Charger hardware, while his performance was rewarded with a fifth place finish in the final point standings. Not content to rest on their laurels, the 18 year-old youngster, who attends the Heavy Equipment Techniques program at Sir Sanford Fleming College in Lindsay and his father spent the off-season taking their piece apart to be ready for a second season of action.
“On our first night at the track last year, we didn’t know much about how to set-up the car,” said Jeff Jacobs about his son’s maiden voyage. “I can still remember asking another team about air pressures before a heat race and when Bailey finished ahead of him on the track, they jokingly said that there would be no more sharing information.”
During the winter, Jeff and Bailey Jacobs all but stripped down their entire car. The frame was painted and checked over, then a new body – a Chevrolet Monte Carlo – was added, after being modified to fit their chassis. Finally, a coat of paint and a fresh graphics package got their machine ready for the May 21 season opener. The father and son team said that the process was more time consuming than they’d originally thought and it wasn’t until some late nights a couple of days before the first green flag that their machine was ready to roll.
“Getting our stuff to the track took a lot of hard work, but it was well worth the time and effort,” said the soft-spoken Bailey Jacobs, while his father and some friends loaded the car at the end of the night. “We had a pretty good show, with some solid runs in the qualifying events and a top five finish in the main event. It’ll give us something to build on as we move through the rest of the year.”
Another change in the #60 car’s program for 2016 is a support package from the Kawartha Kart Club. Bailey Jacobs developed his racing skills with the group, earning multiple season and class championships between 2009 and 2013. The team’s equipment will also carry sponsorship from Bernardi Consulting, Chemong Home Solutions, Dart Heating & Air Conditioning, Close Quarters Tree Removal, T.G. Quirk Towing, Lakefield Napa Auto Parts and Clarke Motorsports Communications.
Bailey Jacobs welcomes inquiries from potential marketing partners interested in joining the team. Contactjacobsmotorsports60@gmail.com.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media
clarkemotorsports@hotmail.com, www.facebook.com/clarkemotorsports
613.968.6410
