Catchfence

“Budget Limitations, Older Tires Limited Potential during Race”

LONG POND, Penn. (July 31, 2010) – Although Jennifer Jo Cobb left Pocono Raceway with a 27th-place finish in Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 125, Cobb was more encouraged than ever.

“I feel like we did everything right during the race weekend, but our budget limitations kept us from being competitive,” explained Cobb. “Of course I wish we finished better, but I’m really proud of my team. The numbers don’t necessarily reflect the effort and the potential we had today.”

Working within a strict budget, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing has to explore cost-saving measures for each event. One way of reducing expenses is to utilize used tires from Sprint Cup teams. The tires on Cobb’s Driven Ford F-150 during the Pocono Mountains 125 had a heat cycle with 14 previous laps from a Cup Series team. Until the tires returned to the optimum temperature, Cobb’s truck wouldn’t handle through the turns.

“As soon as I exited pit road something felt terribly wrong. As I shifted into 3rd gear and rounded Turn 1, the truck went straight to the wall. It had a major vibration all the way down the Long Pond Stretch so I brought it back to my crew.”

Finding all lug nuts tight and no visible issues, Cobb returned to the track just as the race was about to go green. Still not having confidence in the safety of the tires, Cobb once again returned to pit road and the team put her original tires back on.

Cobb started the race from 27th-place. She completed all 125 miles on the same set of tires and finished in 27th-place.

“Our Driven Ford F-150 was improving in practice and we picked up over a second in qualifying,” Cobb said. “The truck was really good through each turn and we were hanging strong with the rest of the field. Our tire situation hindered us during the race.

“It’s disappointing to know we could have done a lot better than this if we had a larger budget. Sometimes money holds you back, but I’m so encouraged by my team’s effort and the truck they prepared for me. It won’t be long and we’ll show what we’re capable of.”

- Breaking Limits Press Release