Catchfence

“Second Season in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Could Bring Big Results”

CENTER CONWAY, NH (January 19, 2011) – D.J. Shaw might have been a newcomer to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East ranks in 2010, but that didn’t stop him from some big accomplishments. Shaw was in the position to win during the tour’s stop at Lee USA Speedway (NH) before getting spun out, he led laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and he finished a solid sixth in the final point standings.

So you might think that Shaw is setting some loftier goals for the 2011 season with his #60 Julio and Rita Miglioli-owned race team. However, Shaw is wise beyond his teenaged years and is not getting caught up in the trap of defining his team’s success on whether or not they meet some arbitrary expectations.

“The goals for last year changed as we went along,” said Shaw. “We started out wanting to finish in the top ten and then we changed that goal to a top five finish – and we almost got there. We’ve come a long way and this year, I would like to win at least one race and get a solid top ten finish in the points. Maybe our goals will change during the season again. I just don’t want to get overconfident and make mistakes. We want to be competitive and finish where we run this year. If we can do that, the points will take care of themselves.”

In his second season, Shaw will return to many of the tracks that he had the opportunity to race on in 2010. There are also a number of new venues on the schedule that none of the series drivers have raced at before. Bowman Gray Stadium (NC), Richmond International Raceway (VA), Langley Speedway (VA) and Columbus Motor Speedway (OH) are all additions this year to the schedule.

“I’m excited about the schedule,” said Shaw. “It was a little disappointing to lose Lee because that was a home track for us, but I’m excited about going to Bowman Gray. That ought to be an interesting race. I think that the new tracks are a good thing for the series and there should be some great shows. Our marquee tracks are still Dover and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but the short tracks are still the most fun. This schedule helps me with my development and also keeps to the series’ roots.”

The season will conclude on September 30th at Dover International Speedway (DE) and Shaw is already looking forward to that event.

“Racing at Dover was the most fun that I’ve ever had,” said Shaw. “I was worried about racing there all year long and then I loved it when I was there. So this year, I’ll be really looking forward to going there.”

Shaw will have a new car to try out for this season as well.

“We bought an Evernham Chassis down South at an auction very cheap. We’re going to try using a composite body with it. We’ve been busy locating used parts and trying to make something light out of this car. We’re trying something new and we’re willing to take a gamble on it. Only Eddie MacDonald has really tried to do this and we helped him with mounting his body.”

Because of the preparations involved with getting that new car ready, Shaw and his team have decided not to compete in the NASCAR All-Star Showdown at Irwindale later this month. Although the event is a prestigious one that Shaw wanted to run in, taking a trip to California was going to be too much for the team to undertake.

“We were going, but then we decided against it,” said Shaw. “Our new car wouldn’t be ready and to take the other car would also set us behind. We would have lost a few weeks worth of work when the truck was on the road.”

Shaw will however run some PASS Super Late Model races this coming season, when his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule allows. His mount for that type of racing is a car that he build along with his father in the shops of Dale Shaw Race Cars.

“We are going to try and run about eight to ten Super Late Model races in the North along with “The RACE” at North Wilkesboro,” said Shaw. “We just built our first straight rail car for ourselves and are trying to drum up some more Super Late Model business. If we run good with it, maybe we can sell some more cars.”

And until then, Shaw is keeping busy by working on his equipment, working at his father’s shop and doing a little bit of indoor kart racing in Northern New England.

“We’ll be kart racing until the season starts. That’s a lot of fun and it is going well. I won the last time out,” said Shaw.

For more information on D.J. Shaw, please be sure to stay tuned for the new DJShawRacing.com website that will make its debut soon.

- 51 Sports Press Release