Catchfence

Daytona Beach, FL (7-4-09) – On the “Eve of Independence” the NASCAR Nationwide Series hit the track for what has become a 4th of July weekend tradition; racing at Daytona International Speedway. This Mecca of Motorsports produces high risk and high drama which was no different this Friday night for the Zaxby’s Racing team. John Wes Townley and RAB Racing were prepared for the fireworks that is NASCAR and that is exactly what they got.

After a promising start to the weekend including a solid starting position, John Wes Townley and the Zaxby’s Racing team lead their first lap of NNS competition on lap 13 but electrical problems on the No. 09 machine resulted in a 36th-place finish in the Subway Jalapeno 250 on Friday night.

During Friday afternoon’s time trial’s, Townley toured the historic two-and-a-half mile Daytona Beach tri-oval in 50.497 seconds (178.228 mph). The lap was good enough to lock the Zaxby’s Ford into the outside of the 11th row in the 22nd position for Friday night’s main event and NASCAR’s junior circuit.

The green flag waved over the 43-car field just past 8 p.m. as Townley dropped to the rear of the field due to no drafting practice on Thursday to get a feel for his No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford. The Raybestos Rookie contender ran as low as 39th during the opening laps and then slowly made his way up through the pack running as high as 25th before an electrical problem on lap 43 forced the yellow and blue Zaxby’s machine behind the wall for 18 laps.

The No. 09 machine returned to the track in the 41st position on lap 61; running consistent lap times as the top-10. Because the Zaxby’s Ford was so many laps down crew chief Brad Parrott opted to make this a good learning experience for the rookie. Townley focused on laps in the draft on the track and the Zaxby’s team worked on solid pit stops off the track.

Over the closing 25 laps of the 100-lap event 11 of the series competitors were taken out in two “big ones” and Townley, still laps down, sat back and watched the show; ultimately gaining 5 positions and finishing 36th, 21 laps down to race winner Clint Bowyer.

Townley and the No. 09 Zaxby’s team remain 35th in the 2009 Owner Point standings with 1011 points; 322 points outside the top-30.

Next up for John Wes Townley is the Dollar General 300 presented by Coca-Cola from Chicagoland Speedway. The 19-year-old rookie has one start at the 1.5-mile tri-oval in the 2008 Chicagoland ARCA 200. The 200-lap event is slated to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

For more information on RAB Racing please visit: www.teamrab.com

For more information on Zaxby’s please visit www.zaxbys.com

For more information on SPS please visit: www.southernpanservices.com

- RAB Racing Press Release