Ben Simmons makes it 2 in a row with a win at Infineon Raceway

Friday, July 16th - Infineon Raceway The day at Infineon started with a press conference and Cad Vis Racing has added Alex Shoemaker to their stable.  Cad Vis Racing already includes the 2010 N4Nites Truck Series Champion Ben Simmons and the up and coming Jeff Prutzman.  “Since losing Mike Redd and Larry Graveson there has been a hole in our team, and we needed a jump start in the team to have a shot at the Speedpro team (of Dave Porter, Rick Porter, and John Boneske).”  Simmons Said at the press conference.  “This gives us some new blood to toss information off to, and close some communication gaps we have been experiencing."

Shoemaker came to Infineon and rewarded his new car owner by capturing the pole, bringing the Cad Vis Racing the front row, and the top three starters in the hills of California.   Shoemaker brought the field to green and pulled about 5 car lengths in front of Simmons as Bob Moore (subbing for Dave Porter) looped the 24 car at the top of the hill at turn 1 putting him behind the leaders.  Shoemaker fell victim to overdriving this car on lap two pushing it to hard going up the hill slid and allowed Simmons to take the lead from his new driver.

Our first caution came out when Shoemaker, far behind the race leader, was working his way up through the field got and into the back of the 52 car.  Prutzman's night got worse as he lost control of his Energizer 52 Chevy and put it in the tire barrier in turn 11 ending his day.  Bob Moore took the lead on the restart and was able to hold off a charging 94 car and 49 of Boneske until turn 11 where Boneske drove into the back of Moore and Simmons.  Simmons was able to keep his car straight but the bump sent Moore sliding wide and getting popped by Shoemaker and the 01 car.  Bobby Rafuse staying quiet most of the night drove his car into the garage, and there was no report of what the mechanical failure was, and Rafuse was not available for comment as officials saw him jump on top of the Prutzman’s Team trailer to watch the rest of the race with Jeff.

Simmons brought them back to the green and the 94 slowly marched away, with a strong run.  Boneske was joined by his fill in teammate Bob Moore.  They could not hold off Shoemaker, the fastest car on the track all weekend moved through the field easily as the laps wound down.  Every team would have to make one more pit stop to get to the end of the race, so it was a battle between Simmons and Shoemaker with ten laps to go.  The New Teammates pitted together and Simmons lead grew to 7 seconds, but Shoemaker slow ran him down with (4) four laps to go to get within 2 seconds of Simmons.  “I just missed my mark on the hard right hander, that allowed him to get that close but I stretched it back out a little bit after I refocused,” Simmons said after the race.

Shoemaker was within 4 seconds of the lead and closing as the laps winded down.  It would come down to who made the fewest mistakes would take the win.  Shoemaker coming through the chicane got loose and looped the 01 Chevy, dropping the 01 car almost 12 seconds behind the leader.  Simmons glided his 94 Star Wars The Clone Wars Chevy around the course to take his second victory in a row and 4th of the season.

“It was a great day for the 94 Star Wars Clone Wars Team, my crew chief David Biggar work out strategy perfectly.  It was not all about running the fastest laps, it was about running quick consistent laps and not burning off tires.  Alex had a great car and could wing that thing about this track, and showed really well for NOS Energy Drink and Cad Vis Racing.  We are so happy to have him with us and hopefully he will make us stronger,” Simmons said as he was getting doused with NOS, and Pepsi in victory lane.