ROCHESTER, Wash. — (August 7, 2010) Jessica Dana made history by racing her way into the prestigious Miller 200 and the rookie late-model driver nearly finished with a top 10 in the process.
The youngest female to ever race in the Miller 200, the 16-year-old from Tumwater, Wash., started deep in the field but finished 11th Saturday night at South Sound Speedway in Rochester, Wash.
“I was honored to race with so many talented drivers and for the support I got from drivers like Jarrod Vorce, JJ Hamilton and car owner Randy Knighton, owner of Knight Fire in Olympia,” said Jessica of her Miller 200 experience. “I was physically and mentally exhausted at the end of the race, but it was a great experience. I want to specially thank my Mom and Dad, my team and my sponsors.”
Driving smart and staying out of trouble, Jessica steadily moved forward after starting the 200-lap race 23rd of 25 cars. She was inside the top-20 by the midpoint break at lap 100, and after getting two tires, fuel and a minor track-bar adjustment, Jessica continued to advance over the final distance of the race, which was won by Billy Webber.
“This was just as good as a win,” said car chief Neil Derline after the race, which was just the 10th career late-model start for Jessica at South Sound Speedway. The talented young driver has built an impressive list of accomplishments in her rookie season, recording five top-5 finishes at “The Fastest Three-Eighths Mile on the West Coast.”
Jessica’s run to the front was also cheered by the large crowd of fans in the speedway’s grandstands, many of whom received coupons good for a Dairy Queen ice-cream cone from her courtesy of Jessica’s sponsor the Margent Corporation — owner of all Dairy Queen franchises in Thurston and Lewis counties.
After turning fast laps in practice, the Jessica Dana Racing team had high hopes for Jessica’s No. 12 being one of the 18 cars to make it into the race based on speed, but a pre-qualifying set-up change had the opposite effect — making the car slower — putting her in the B main with 10 other drivers hoping to race their way into the Miller 200 by finishing in the top four.
Jessica started the 15-lap B main in seventh place, but she clearly had one of the faster cars and four laps after the green flag she had advanced two positions when the yellow flag came out for a crash. Clean-up took some time so the B main was shortened to 10 laps.
Jessica continued her strong run after the restart finished third — racing her way into the Miller 200 and making history. Three more cars would later be added to the Miller 200 starting field as “promoter’s provisionals.”
In addition to having a large DQ Blizzard decal on the hood of her No. 12 Super Late Model, Jessica and the JDR team were pleased and proud to be supported in their Miller 200 effort by Dana Commercial, Grimm Collections, Olympic Auto Body, Integrity Car Care Center, Forever Powder Coating and First Citizens Bank.
In practice for JDR’s first Miller 200, Jessica was turning 13.9-second laps — veteran racer Ron Eaton won the pole with a new track record lap of 13.41 — which would have allowed her to qualify for the race on speed. But a few minor changes made to the car for the qualifying run did not have the desired effect and Jessica’s lap of 14.20 put her in the B main instead.
“I could feel the entire team’s disappointment and concern after qualifying because we did such a great job in practice,” said Jessica’s father, Troy Dana. “But everyone pulled together and Jessica drove great, smart races in both the B main and 200, so we ended up having just an amazing night. It was a great team effort and I’m proud of everyone involved.”
Next up for Jessica is an appearance on the KING-5 TV show New Day Northwest at 11 a.m. (PT) on Thursday, Aug. 11. In addition to the Miller 200, Jessica will discuss how she became interested in auto racing and her dream of competing in at the top levels of NASCAR.
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On the web: Visit www.JessicaDanaRacing.com, follow @JessDanaRacing on Twitter or like “Jessica Dana Racing” on Facebook.
About Jessica Dana Racing: Jessica Dana Racing was founded in 2010 to help the high school sophomore from Tumwater, Wash., achieve her goal of racing at the highest levels of motorsports. Jessica began riding ATVs when she was 4, and racing them at 8. Two months after sitting in a kart for the first time she was recording a top-5 finish at the 2009 U.S. Indoor Kart Championships. Over a two-month period in the spring of 2010, Jessica raced and defeated both four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon and extreme motorsports star Travis Pastrana in charity kart events.
Jessica Dana Racing sponsorship & media contact: Troy Dana, (360) 357-7979, Troy.Dana@d3rec.com
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