Colangelo Scores First Podium Finish of 2008
Third-Place is Sixth Top-10 Run for the Driver from DeLand, Florida
Better and better is the way to describe the progress of Jeremy Colangelo’s season in 2008. Each week the finishes get stronger, and that first win is only getting closer for the driver of the Mark Martin RE/MAX Chevrolet. This past weekend proved things are only improving for Colangelo, who scored a third-place finish at the Sunbelt Super Late Model event in New Smyrna (FL).
“We qualified third, and with the inversion we got to start third,” said Colangelo. “We fell in line and ran for a while. Then on a restart, a bunch of cars jumped on the outside of us and got around me and we fell back to seventh or eighth. Then we survived a couple of incidents where other guys weren’t so lucky. All in all it was a great night to have such a great car and to come back to finish third.”
With a dozen laps to go, the yellow flag flew and bunched up the field for one more restart, Colangelo knew it was a chance to perhaps steal the victory.
“I think we could have beaten Justin Drawdy (the second-place driver), but my inexperience cost us on that one,” admitted Colangelo. “I could get under him going into the turns, but I just couldn’t get up off the corner to get by him. He ran a solid line and we just couldn’t get by.”
Part of Colangelo’s success came with testing prior to the event at New Smyrna Speedway (FL). The team spent Wednesday at the track in an effort to improve the car. This allowed for them to try some new things to get that little bit of extra out of the car.
“We were just looking for that extra boost of speed, and the guys in the shop really came through this weekend. We took the car and changed just about everything; we pretty much threw everything but the kitchen sink at it. Things went tremendously better than they did the week before.”
The consistency that Colangelo has turned in has been simply amazing in ’08. In only six races, he has guided his RE/MAX Chevrolet to six top-10 finishes, with two top-5s in the last three.
“Every time I sit in the car it just gets easier because of all the work that the guys put in at the shop,” added Colangelo. “We get to the track and we only have to make minor changes; we are prepared more and more each week. Right now we have the car; we’re just working on the driver a bit.”
Colangelo will make his first start on the RC/Cola MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour this Saturday, May 3rd, at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Florida.
