MARK MORTENSEN RACE REPORT FOR 5/2/09

The evening on Saturday, May 2 didn’t start out too well for 24 year old Mark Mortensen at the Track of Champions Fonda Speedway but it ended up in the best possible way with a win! Mark started the rain delayed Sportsman feature from April 25 in the seventh position but the Jumpin’ Jacks Drive In sponsored/Boyd’s Motorworks powered #1M Teo car was off right from the start. He worked hard to maintain his seventh place spot for most of the feature event until he was shuffled back outside the top 10 with only a few laps to go in the 20-lap event. At the checkered flag Mark worked his way back up to a 10th place finish and then went pit side to the attention of his crew. The decision was made to “undo” a change that was made the week prior and put the “high gears” back into the rear end of the car. Mark started the first Sportsman heat race in the seventh position and moved quickly to the front of the field. He ended up winning the eight lap qualifying event which lined him up sixth on the starting grid for the second 20-lap feature event of the evening. By lap two Mark had already moved up two spots to the fourth position and two laps later he was the new race leader after getting by Chuck Allen for the spot. From that point on he drove a “smooth” race, hitting his marks on the track on his way to his first win of the 2009 season and the seventh of his career in the Sportsman division at Fonda. The win for Mark moved him up to the third position in the point standings with 148 points behind point leader Luke Munroe with 164 points and defending track champion David Towns with 160 points. For more information on the Mark Mortensen #1M Racing Team you can go to his website www.pmmexpress.com/markmortensen