Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Jeremy Clements Pulls Off the Spin and Win

Jeremy Clements Pulls Off the Spin and Win

Earns a Chase Playoff Berth


Jeremy Clements Pulls Off the Spin and Win - #NASCAR #NXS


If you are like most NASCAR fans, you were glued to the television Sunday for the Xfinity Race at Road America yesterday in the ‘Johnsonville 180’. With Watkins Glen International and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the record books, this was the last road course remains on the NASCAR XFINITY Series 2017 schedule.

Driver Brendan Gaughan was the only previous series Road America winner entered in the race. Therefore, the odds of a new Road America winner was high. However, Jeremy Clements was not high on that list. After all, he had never won a #NASCAR Xfinity series race in his two hundred and fifty-five starts.

Jeremy Clements Pulls Off the Spin and Win - #NASCAR #NXS

Jeremy drives for a family team he co-owns with his father Tony Clements. A less funded team, it was not surprising that his race vehicle is a Chevrolet that was built in 2008; the car he wrecked at Mid-Ohio two weeks earlier.

Therefore the task of winning in a top-level NASCAR event was not a simple one for Clements. It has been a decade since a driver with no Cup experience won a Xfinity race on a team with no Cup ties However, he held the race lead for a handful of laps when the leaders pitted early in the third stage and he was out in front for the one that mattered most in the 45-lap event.

“I was licking my chops,” Clements said. “I was just so excited, I couldn’t believe that the (win) was right there for me to get. 




Then with just two laps remaining, Jeremy Clements and Matt Tifft battled down the stretch at Road America. Both spin after making contact and spin. Clements manage to scramble back onto the track in first place and persisted there for the win.

“I was really beating a lot of guys out of those last two corners. Especially the last corner; I could get in really deep. That’s where I thought I could pass (Tifft) at. I should have maybe been a little more patient. But it was coming on the last lap. He’s probably mad though, and I’m sorry to him.”

Jeremy Clements Pulls Off the Spin and Win - #NASCAR #NXS

Who is Jeremy Clements

FAST FACTS:  
  • DOB: January 16, 1985
  • Height: 5′8″
  • Weight: 150 lbs.
  • Hometown: Spartanburg, SC
  • Racing Experience: Karts, Stock Four Cylinders, Modified Four Cylinders, Limited Late Models, Super Late Models, ARCA RE/MAX Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series
  • Interests: Racing, Travel, Video Games and Movies

ABOUT JEREMY Jeremy Clements is carrying on a family tradition long rooted in NASCAR. He is the grandson of famed NASCAR owner and renowned engine builder, Crawford Clements. Jeremy’s uncle, Louis Clements, was a Championship Crew Chief with Rex White. 

Jeremy Clements Pulls Off the Spin and Win - #NASCAR #NXSTogether, Crawford and Louis spent over 25 years making history with their engine development programs and ownership of race cars. Today his father and Jeremy Clements Racing Team owner, Tony Clements, continues to run Clements Automotive, a company started by Crawford in 1965. 

Clements Automotive is a recognized leader in racing and performance engine building specializing in building complete racing engines, cylinder head services, dyno testing, custom porting, and CNC machining for virtually all types of racing applications including ARCA, Pro Cup, Dirt Late Model, and nascar. With racing in his blood and plenty of horsepower in his daily life, Jeremy continues the tradition.

Jeremy has outgrown the label of a “young gun” and has shown longevity with his talent, distinctive style and charm.

EARLY YEARS Introduced to racing by his grandfather, Jeremy began his racing career at the age of seven in go-karts where he picked up 47 feature wins before successfully tackling the various ranks of dirt racing. Moving to Modified and Stock four-cylinders in 1999, Jeremy would rack up 59 wins and three track championships over the next three years. His dirt experience proved beneficial in transitioning the determined teen to asphalt racing.

LATE MODEL & ARCA RACING SERIES In 2002 Jeremy made his debut in the ARCA Series, driving the No. 3 for Broadway Motors (Ken Appling) at Talladega Superspeedway. He qualified 6th 2002 and 2003, Jeremy would run several ARCA races and continue to dominate on dirt running and finished 17th. Throughout the Super Late Models.

On July 24, 2004, Jeremy suffered an injury that threatened his racing career while running his No. 51 Late Model at 311 Speedway in Madison, NC. The torque arm broke under his car and sent a steel driveshaft piercing through his cockpit, almost removing his right hand. Initially doctors predicted that he would be lucky to have any movement at all in the hand. Jeremy underwent eight surgeries and months of physical therapy to regain use of his right hand. 

In July 2005, Jeremy returned to the dirt track almost exactly a year after his hand injury, testing his Late Model. During the remainder of the year he would race late models and returned to the ARCA series for two races. Jeremy continued to make strides towards his goal of running in NASCAR. In 2006 he started 10 ARCA races with Ken Appling, with 3 top 5 finishes and 1 top 10 finish. He was also selected by General Motors to participate in a three track test with Richard Childress Racing. 

During the 2007 season, Jeremy started 12 ARCA races with Ken Appling, earning his first ARCA win at Nashville Superspeedway after qualifying second and leading 48 laps. He also earned 5 top 5 finishes and 2 top 10 finishes. In 2008, Jeremy ran seven races in the ARCA series with Ken Appling. He earned 2 top 5 finishes and 3 top 10 finishes and came close to repeating his 2007 win at Nashville Superspeedway, finishing in 2nd place.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES Jeremy was one of the youngest drivers to ever qualify for a NASCAR Nationwide Series event at age 18, racing for Jerry Young at Pikes Peak on July 26, 2003. He finished the race in 31rst after an accident on lap 28 ended his day. 

Jeremy would return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2007, running 5 races with McGill Motorsports, driving the No. 36 Chevrolet. In 2008, Jeremy ran two races for this family team, driving the No. 50 at Gateway and Homestead. During 2009, he ran the first half of the season driving the No. 50 for his family team and the second half of the season for Johnny Davis in the No. 0. His best finish came at Auto Club Speedway on October 10, 2009, where he qualified 21rst and finished in 12th position. Jeremy Clements Racing/Clements Racing Engines was formed in 2010 giving Jeremy the opportunity to run a partial schedule funded by Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. Running under Johnny Davis on a very limited budget, the team qualified for 16 races, with Jeremy’s then best NNS career finish of 10th at Gateway International Raceway.

In 2011, the decision was made to move Jeremy full time into the NNS and run a full season driving the No. 51 for Jeremy Clements Racing. Although primary sponsorship was not secured, Jeremy and JCR remained competitive in the field, completing the season with 4 top 15 finishes and 7 top 20 As in 2011, the Team would again overcome limited sponsorship support and remain competitive on the track during the 2012 season.

Last year, Clements finished the season in fifteenth position – he is currently in seventeenth position. However, with his race victory, he earned a berth in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series playoffs. 





Related Posts:

  1. Todd Gilliland Edges Chris Eggleston For Roseburg Win
  2. Weekend Schedule for Road America
  3. Johnsonville Named Title Sponsor For NASCAR Xfinity Series Event at Road America
  4. Chevrolet Extends Partnership As Official Vehicle of Road America
  5. NASCAR Xfinity Series Team Haulers to Road America Friday

No comments: