Justin Larson Hoping for Strong Start to ’08 at SpeedFest
In 2007, Justin Larson was one of the busiest short track racers in the country. The young driver raced during just about every weekend from February through October, criss-crossing the Southeast with his #88 Skinner Nurseries Super Late Model and Limited Late Model racecars.
Another busy season is on tap for the 19-year-old in 2008, but before the new campaign gets in full-swing, it will get kicked off at SpeedFest, the South’s first big Super Late Model race of the year.
Larson will pilot the #88 Skinner Nurseries Chevrolet Super Late Model in the CRA and FASCAR-sanctioned event USA International Speedway in Lakeland, FL this weekend. With hundreds of laps at Lakeland already under his belt in previous trips to the track, Larson is excited about getting the new year kicked off in a big way in one of the most prestigious early-season SLM events in the country.
“It’ll be a fun way to start the season,” said Larson. “We’ll get a 100-lap qualifying race on Friday night then the 200 on Saturday. We’ve got a couple new guys on the crew, so hopefully we can come out of Lakeland having started the season well and everyone’s gelling as a team. It’s going to kick off the season in a big way.”
For Larson, there is no better place to get the season off and running than at USA International Speedway. He began his Super Late Model racing career on the .75-mile track last year and he immediately felt at home at the high-speed track in the #88 SLM, putting it on the pole. In all, Larson took two poles in his Super Late Model races at Lakeland.
As good as Larson and the Justin Larson Racing team have been at Lakeland in the past, the group have spent many hours in the shop and in a recent test to get the car even more dialed-in for the tough SpeedFest event.
“We’ve been fast every time we’ve been there, but we wanted to go back for the test with a little bit of a different setup to try and be better on the long runs. The stuff we changed we thought would help, but it didn’t help as much as we would’ve like it to. We came back to the shop and we changed everything back over to the stuff that we normally run. We left a couple things similar to the other setup, so hopefully we hit on something that will make us better on the long runs.
“We’re back to a similar setup to what we normally have there, so we should be pretty fast. We just had a pit stop practice and the guys are ready. We’ve got a couple new guys on the pit crew this year and in just a couple of nights’ practice, they were doing awesome pit stops, so I’m pretty excited about that.”
SpeedFest annually draws the best Super Late Model drivers from all corners of the country. Drivers will be designated as “North” and “South” drivers to set up Saturday’s 200-lap SLM civil war. While Larson has never competed in SpeedFest before, he knows what he’s in store for and has plans to show the Northern invaders just what he and the rest of his Florida comrades can do on the track.
“In Florida, there are a lot of good drivers - guys like Wayne Anderson, Jeff Choquette, Jeff Scofield and a bunch more. They’re all pretty tough. The Sunbelt tour is pretty tough as it is, but it’s going to be even tougher racing with the guys from up North. You don’t always get to run wheel-to-wheel with those guys that often. Hopefully we can beat them at SpeedFest.
“I didn’t race there last year, but I was down there watching them and a lot of those North guys were fast. They’ve got that place figured out. Hopefully we’ll all have a good race. Maybe we can even earn some new friendships with those guys too.”
Larson will be piloting the Skinner Nurseries #88 in the event with additional support from Woods ‘N Water Magazine, Suwannee River Mulch, DiscoverTec, Edgewater Financial, RE/MAX Brenda Battalio, NAPA Perry Auto Parts, Communications Products, Inc., Cope Signs and Ware Oil of Panama City. The Justin Larson Racing team is also proud to announce additional support from Chester’s Fried Chicken for the 2008 season.
For more information on Justin Larson, contact Brian Faircloth at 850-838-5407 and be sure to check out the all-new JustinLarsonRacing.com.