Doing What Hasn’t Been Done Before
Written By Vernon Williams
Jeff Williams has scored his fifth Southwest Tour Truck Touring Championship and his third Irwindale Southwest Tour Truck Championship. Jeff dominated the series in 2011 in a way it has never been dominated before.
Jeff won every race of the season in his “Pick Your Part” F-150 Ford. There is much to be said for Jeff’s driving ability but let’s not forget that he builds his own engines, and sets up his own chassis. Jeff is the complete driver and always hard to beat but in 2011 he was unstoppable.
Jeff’s talent as a driver, chassis setup expert, and engine builder is very hard to beat and in 2011 it was impossible to beat. Jeff and his team overcame all adversities throughout the year and won every event. This has never been done before because even if you are the fastest you still have to avoid mechanical and electrical problems, flat tires, and anything else that could go wrong.
Anyone that attended the last points race of the season saw an unbelievable start to the race. The #28 started 13th and was in third place coming off of turn #2; his aggressive nature starts on the first lap and last until the checkered flag has fallen.
The team has performed all year to keep the truck ready and running at its best. Even though JW Racing added a Late Model to its stable the crew worked extra hard to keep both vehicles going even on nights when both series were racing. Some nights the JW Racing crew had to prepare for as many as three main events in one evening.
Jeff would like to give special thanks to the following members of his team: Vern Williams, Clarke Farrar, Dave Beattie, Camren Beattie, and Josh Davis. Your hard work is greatly appreciated. Also thank you to Jacki (as he always says “His beautiful wife”) for being so supportive and always being there.
When you have a driver like Jeff Williams and you surround him with a team like this, well as you can see that is hard to beat.
Jeff said “None of this could have been done without our sponsors and we owe so many thanks to “Pick Your Part” for all they do for us and being a wonderful sponsor. We value our relationship with Pick Your Part and look forward to our future with them. Danmar,builders of four post car lifts, Mobil One, California Tire, and C&R Transmissions.” We try to thank all of them through our performance. We feel that race wins and championships is a way to show our sponsors how much we appreciate their involvement.
So congratulations to Jeff Williams for doing so many things that haven’t been done before, all the wins in 2011 and your fifth Southwest Tour Truck Championship, and third Irwindale Southwest Tour Truck Championship.
You worked hard and you deserve it.
May 7, 2011
Open Comp Race
IRWINDALE, CA - Jeff Williams decided to race the Open Comp race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night. He showed up after practice and qualifying. Since he did not qualify, he had to start at the back of the pack. Williams ran the race on old tires and ended up finishing 3rd behind two, very fast Modified cars.
April 30, 2011
Double Header
IRWINDALE, CA - The goal of racing is to win. Jeff Williams did exactly that in his number 28 Pick Your Part Ford F-150. His 302-powered South West Tour Truck brought home another dominating pole position and win Saturday night.
Williams set fast time with a 19.92-second lap time in qualifying, over half a second over the next fastest qualifier. The track officials inverted the top 7 truck placing the 28 on the inside of the third row. On Lap 2 of the 35-lap main event, there was a red flag after the 66 and 55 got together, sending the 55 into the turn 3 wall hard. When the race resumed, Williams started in the third and quickly moved his way to the front and checked out!
The Late Model race did not go as well for Williams. Still driving the borrowed LM Williams was hanging around mid pack during the race. A car had spun in turns 1 and 2 as Williams approached. He did his best to avoid the LM that was trying to find a parking spot in the middle of the track, but he kissed the wall with his right front wheel, which ended his night.
April 9, 2011
Two FOR Two
ROSAMOND, CA - Jeff Williams took the Pick Your Part, SoCalRacingSupply.com Ford F-150 to another victory at Willow Springs Speedway on Saturday afternoon. Williams is continuing his try for a fifth championship in the South West Tour Trucks by qualifying and crossing the checkered flag #1!
Williams practiced on a set of old tires and found it hard to get enough heat in the tires, especially the fronts. The sun was shining, but the cold windy air was not allowing the track to retain much heat. He qualified #1 with a 14.94-second lap time with Ed Cutler in the number 4 truck was only a few tenths slower.
The South West Tour Truck 25-lap main event started later than expected, but was packed full of excitement for the fans. Williams was not thrilled by the events that unfolded early in the race when one fellow racer seemed to be a bit over excited while over driving his truck around the narrow Speedway.
Once Williams got to the front of the pack, he set the cruise control and checked out!
JW Racing (JeffWilliamsRacing.com) announced today that the final arrangements have been completed between JW Racing and Pick Your Part for a combined South West Tour Truck and Late Model effort in 2011. Pick Your Part will be the Title Sponsor for the South West Tour Truck and a completely rebuilt Late Model that Jeff Williams will be running in the 2011 season.
JW Racing will be running the South West Tour Truck races, King Taco Truck races, Late Model races, selected Super Late Model races and the Open Competition races.
Jeff Williams said “This will be the most exciting year we have ever had. I am so happy to have Pick Your Part on our race vehicles. They are the standard that others shoot for in the auto salvage industry. Pick Your Part is everywhere you look in Southern California Racing, and we love that they support our great sport. Pick Your Part Auto Recyclers, is a subsidiary of LKQ Corporation, and is the largest self-service auto recycler in Southern California.
It will be a very busy year for JW Racing but we are ready to meet the challenge. We have added new personal to our team to handle the extra load. The Late Model team will be made up of some of the Truck crew and some that will be new to the JW Racing organization.
No matter what race you are watching make sure that you look for the #28 it will be on the track multiple times in one evening and proudly wearing the Pick Your Part logos.
Jeff Williams Strikes Again at I-10 Speedway in Blythe
The #28 South West Tour Truck of JW Racing always shines at Blythe and it seemed that this weekend would be no different. Jeff Williams, driver of the #28, loves the Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway and was eager to get on the track. In practice, Jeff was turning laps in the 14.9 to 15.1 range on old tires and the truck felt a little loose. Jeff decided to leave the truck as it was after practice realizing that putting on new tires would likely take care of the truck being loose and give him the added traction that he desired.
Before qualifying, a few small changes were made and two new tires were placed on the #28. Jeff hit the track and on his first lap tied his own track record with a 14.72 and took the pole position. The truck was stuck like glue and Jeff turned in another excellent driving performance.
In the main event, Jeff would start 5th due to an invert of five. At the start of the race, Jeff was following the #78 of Ronnie Davis who was following the #44 of Cecil Phelps. The three trucks drove by everyone on the outside line and were soon running one, two, and three.
The #28 Pick-Your-Part Ford was just looking for an opening and would find it on lap five in turn three. The # 78 of Davis drifted a little high and Jeff was under him before he could do anything about it. As Jeff cleared Davis, the #78 bellowed out smoke from under the truck and the #78 pulled into the infield. As it turned out the Transmission dip stick was blown out and fluid was thrown onto the headers.
Now Jeff had only the #44 of Cecil Phelps in front of him and 40 laps to go. On the restart, the #28 appeared to be attached to the rear bumper of the #44. It looked like a two truck train going around the track and Jeff was applying as much pressure as possible. After a few minor touches and a black mark or two, Jeff was able to get alongside Cecil Phelps in the #44 and take the lead.
Once in front Jeff was long gone. He navigated the track as he always does with his smooth but aggressive style. As one person said to me, “he appears to be one with the truck”. When the checkered flag flew, only Williams and Ed Cutler in the #4 truck were left on the lead lap. Williams finished the night with a backwards parade lap holding the checkered flag out the window.
We had a great time at Blythe but we missed our good friend Greg Scheidecker whose dad passed away during the week. We wish Greg and all the family and friends of his father our best wishes and our prayers.
