Jarrett 22nd at Talladega;
Takes 9th in points for 2005

Soddy Daisy, TN (10-4-2005) - Jason Jarrett brought the Hixson Motorsports #23 QuicShine99/StreakFree.Biz Chevrolet to the checkered flag in 22nd place on Saturday October 1st in ARCA's Food World 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. The 22nd place finish netted Jarrett 9th place in the 2005 ARCA RE/MAX Series point standing, despite starting the season without a ride.

In Thursday’s practice session, the Hixson Motorsports crew struggled to find speed. Jarrett made several practice runs, but could only muster a best lap of 54.653 (175.215 mph), well off the pace set by the leaders and good enough for only 42nd of the 52 cars that took laps. Jarrett reported to team owner Wayne Hixson that the car was handling good, but that he was already getting everything out of it he could. Jarrett cycled through the garage several times, but nothing seemed to improve the car's performance. On the last run before the end of practice, the day went from bad to worse when the engine expired. Knowing that they would have to forego qualifying while working on the car, Jarrett and the team crossed their fingers and hoped that a provisional starting spot would be available. When qualifying ended, the #23 was given a provisional in the 37th spot on the grid.

When the field took the green flag to start the race, Jarrett immediately discovered that the car did not want to go, and even the draft effect was not enough to keep him in the pack. Jarrett spent most of the afternoon circling the track by himself, staying low when the pack approached and giving the leaders plenty of room. The pit crew, led by crew chief Jim Freye and car chief Mike Strouse, checked everything they could on each pit stop trying to find the source of the problem, but nothing seemed amiss. Just after halfway, Hixson called Jarrett to pit road and Strouse went through the passenger side window to change the ignition box. The new box did not help, and Jarrett was forced to ride out the race. When the checkered flag finally fell, Jarrett was in 22nd place, 10 laps down to the race winner.

“We had some problems during the race,” Jarrett said after climbing from the car. “The crew kept working, and tried everything we could think of to get the car up to speed, but nothing we did seemed to work, so I just rode around by myself most of the day. It was important that we finished, though. I think the whole team has gotten gun shy after the last few weeks, so it felt good to take the checkered flag. I want to thank QuicShine99 and StreakFree.Biz for coming onboard this weekend. I especially want to thank Dan Shaver, Jeff Buice, and Shaver Motorsports for helping us out this week when we lost our primary engine in practice. Without their help, we would have been a lot worse off.”

“I honestly don’t know what was wrong today,” Hixson noted as the team loaded the transporter. “We looked at everything we could. We’ll take this car apart when we get home and find the problem, then get it ready for Daytona testing. I want to thank Dan Shaver, Jeff Buice, and Shaver Motorsports for the loan of an engine today, and for all of their help and advice this season.”