ELEVEN QUESTIONS WITH 2008 SRL SOUTHWEST TOUR SERIES

Eleven Questions with 2008 SRL Southwest Tour Series Champion,

Jim Pettit II

 1.               Jim, you have two NASCAR Southwest Series championships, and now the 2008 SRL Southwest Tour Series championship, what other championships and credentials are on your resume? JPII:  “With this year’s SRL title we have a total of 15 championships.  Two NASCAR Southwest Tour championships, the 2000 Tri-Track championship, two at Madera Speedway, two at Altamont, a NASCAR Regional Championship in 1984 at age 19, which at the time made me the youngest driver to ever win a NASCAR Regional Championship.  The rest of the titles were on the dirt tracks up here in northern California.”     Other accomplishments not mentioned by Jim: At one time he was the youngest driver to ever win a NASCAR feature division main event at age 16.  He was voted as one of the Top 25 All-Time drivers of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.  Two-time Motorsports Press Driver of the Year.  Won all three Tri-Holiday races by leading all 300 laps. Won every award presented by the NASCAR Southwest Tour except Rookie-of-the-Year.

 2.               Speaking of your early days, what was your first race car and your first race? JPII:  “An ‘81 Camaro, we bought the chassis from Ivan Baldwin, and the car was built with the help of Otis Gleason.  Our first race was at San Jose Speedway, we ran the feature division, dirt late models.  I ran the wrong gear and we struggled and eventually DNF’d the B-main event, with a ripped off door.  The next day we ran at Antioch Speedway, we qualified 3rd fast and made the trophy dash.  In the first turn of the first lap, I crashed all four cars in the dash.  I got loose, and then drove over the top of Doug McCoun, who then hit the other two cars.  My car was the only one that was able to drive away, and I drove straight to the pits.  My crew was yelling at me to go back out on the track because I was going to be declared the winner since none of the other cars could move.  I said, “no way am I going out there, those guys are going to kill me!”  I did finish seventh that night in the main at Antioch.”

 3.               How did your career begin and how did you become so active in the sport?  JPII:  “Mom and Dad would take us to watch the races at Watsonville, and we would travel to San Jose Speedway on occasions.  Dad sponsored a few cars, and I was racing motorcycles at the time.  Dad asked me when I turned 16 if I would like to try racing the cars.  So by the age of 15½ I had built my first car from the ground up with the help of Otis Gleason.”

 4.               When did you make your first Southwest Tour Series start?  JPII:  “Our first tour car we bought from Ken Boyd, a Victory Circle.  Winter Heat at Tucson Raceway Park in 1995 was our first time competing in the NASCAR Southwest Tour Series.  We went out to practice and I just ran lap after lap, we didn’t do anything to the car, I was just running laps trying to figure out the track.  It was time to qualify, so we went out ran our laps and waited for the time sheets to be posted.  Finally NASCAR posted the time sheets and our number was not on there.  So I waited a while, came back and still no #03.  So I asked a NASCAR official why we weren’t on the sheet and he said he would check it out.  Finally, he comes back and says to me “You are not on the sheet because you are not in the top 40 in qualifying and we only take the top 40 today, so you can go ahead and load up and go home.”  So that was pretty humbling”

 5.               Getting back to this season, there were some real tough competitors in the SRL this year, but you almost made it look easy winning four races and never finishing outside the top three.  JPII:  “Every race was a tough race; my team always wins and loses as a team.  Early in the year we committed ourselves to being focused on the SRL series, not only on our team’s performance, but also on making a positive impact on the SRL.  We knew the competition would be tough, and we would not be content with anything other than giving our best effort.”

 6.               Aside from the entire SRL series, how many other events did you compete in 2008?  JPII:   “On top of the SRL series we ran twelve dirt shows between Antioch, Merced, Santa Maria, Petaluma and Watsonville in our dirt modified.  At one point we had seven wins in a row between the SRL and dirt races.  Overall we had a pretty good year.”

 7.               Racing is never easy, there are so many factors working against you – your competitors, mechanical failures, luck…what is the secret to your successes? JPII:  “Never being content and learning from our mistakes.  The true credit belongs to the guys in the shop, who are all volunteers, it was their work that paid off and allowed us to be in the position to win races and score the points that won us the championship.”

 8.               This season I often heard the track announcers refer to you as a “legend”, how does that sit with you?  JPII:  “It makes me feel that I have respect for what I have accomplished.  I do enjoy the fact that I am viewed as one of the guys to beat, when competitors are watching our times during practice, using us as a gage, we enjoy that.  It makes me feel good that people respect me for the hard work that myself, my team and my family have put into our racing over the years.”

 9.               So, how many main events have you won over the years?  JPII:  “A conservative number would be 300 plus.”

 10.                  Name the highlight of the 2008 SRL season for you.  JPII:  “My guys giving me a good well prepared car and putting on a good show for the series and show what a quality series we have in the SRL Southwest Tour.  I enjoyed every lap of every race this season.”

 11.                   Plans for Jim Pettit II for 2009? JPII:  “Defend the SRL Southwest Tour Series title and spread the word on what a great series we have with the SRL Southwest Tour.”

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