Patience Propels DeCaire to Second Series Victory



Patience Propels DeCaire to Second Series Victory

Audio Clips:
– Troy DeCaire
– Jason Cox
– Jo Jo Helberg

Story by Kyle Larson

SCHERERVILLE, Ind. (August 2, 2014) – Troy DeCaire scored his second Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints victory of the 2014 season at Illiana (IN) Motor Speedway on Saturday, August 2.

DeCaire completed the race winning pass on Jason Cox on the 20th circuit and then pulled away after a late race yellow for the victory with 15th place starter Jo Jo Helberg completing the podium finishers. Davey Hamilton Jr. and defending race winner Tim Cox rounded out the top five.

“After the day we had yesterday, my guys didn’t let me down. We woke up at 7 a.m. and had this thing on jack stands. We went through the car and hard worked really paid off,” said race winner Troy DeCaire. “They gave me a great car where I could just ride and watch Jason (Cox). He used his tires up a little bit and I made the move when it counted.”

The 30-lap feature began with Jason and Tim Cox pacing the 16-car starting field on the .50-mile oval. Jason Cox got the jump on his dad, and led the early stages of the race as Tim Cox settled into second with DeCaire advancing to the third spot.

At lap five, Jason Cox continued to lead as DeCaire moved to the runner-up position around Tim Cox with Kevin Feeney and Davey Hamilton Jr. close behind. Helberg was on the move, up from 15th to run in seventh spot after a pass on Joe Swanson.

DeCaire was able to close the gap in traffic on Jason Cox, but was using extreme patience to make a challenge for the race lead. While the duo remained one and two, Ryan Litt was on the charge climbing from his ninth starting spot to fourth after passing Feeney and Hamilton Jr.

Helberg then completed passes on Feeney and Hamilton to advance to fifth position. On Lap 20, DeCaire then pounced on Jason Cox while in heavy lapped traffic and grabbed the top spot after they had a spirited battle.

Once DeCaire was able to clear Jason Cox, he then edged away until the yellow flew on lap 23 for a spinning Sam Davis in turn 1. Under that caution period, fourth running Ryan Litt dropped out of the event and headed to the pit area.

DeCaire pulled away over the final seven laps to win over Jason Cox, who drove an impressive race in his first series start in almost 14 months. Helberg passed Tim Cox to finish in third with Davey Hamilton Jr. and Tim Cox rounding out the top-five finishers.

The Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints returns to action on Sunday, August 31 at Angola (IN) Motorsport Speedway. 

A MAIN RESULTS
POS LN # DRIVER
1 4 22A Troy DeCaire
2 1 1 Jason Cox
3 15 71H Jo Jo Helberg
4 7 60 Davey Hamilton Jr.
5 2 40 Tim Cox
6 9 75c Jerry Caryer
7 3 61 Kevin Feeney
8 6 7 Joe Swanson
9 5 42 Jason Blonde
10 12 11x Jim Payne
11 11 43 Sam Davis
12 8 07L Ryan Litt
13 10 44 Teddy Alberts
14 14 11G Tom Geren
15 13 0 Kyle Feeney
16 16 10 Ron Koehler

HEAT RACE #1 RESULTS
POS LN # DRIVER LAPS
1 2 07L Ryan Litt 8
2 4 22A Troy DeCaire 8
3 3 40 Tim Cox 8
4 5 7 Joe Swanson 8
5 1 44 Teddy Alberts 8
6 7 11x Jim Payne 7
7 8 11G Tom Geren 7
8 6 71H Jo Jo Helberg 4

 

HEAT RACE #2 RESULTS
POS LN # DRIVER LAPS
1 2 75c Jerry Caryer 8
2 4 61 Kevin Feeney 8
3 6 60 Davey Hamilton Jr. 8
4 5 42 Jason Blonde 8
5 3 1 Jason Cox 8
6 1 43 Sam Davis 8
7 7 0 Kyle Feeney 8
8 8 10 Ron Koehler 0

QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS # DRIVER TIME DIFF MPH
1 71H Jo Jo Helberg 15.911 113.129
2 60 Davey Hamilton Jr. 15.925 0.014 113.030
3 7 Joe Swanson 15.984 0.073 112.613
4 42 Jason Blonde 16.036 0.125 112.247
5 22A Troy DeCaire 16.081 0.170 111.933
6 61 Kevin Feeney 16.090 0.179 111.871
7 40 Tim Cox 16.202 0.291 111.097
8 1 Jason Cox 16.235 0.324 110.872
9 07L Ryan Litt 16.253 0.342 110.749
10 75c Jerry Caryer 16.488 0.577 109.170
11 44 Teddy Alberts 17.159 1.248 104.901
12 43 Sam Davis 17.210 1.299 104.590
13 11x Jim Payne 17.341 1.430 103.800
14 0 Kyle Feeney 17.501 1.590 102.851
15 11G Tom Geren 17.898 1.987 100.570
16 10 Ron Koehler 18.603 2.692 96.759