6/5/2020
RacinBoys
Conaway Joins MLRA's Sunoco Rookie Battle
By Lucas Oil MLRA PR (Wheatland, MO) -- Just days away from putting an end to the longest off season in the history of the Lucas Oil MLRA, excitement is growing with yet another addition to the 2020 Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year class. Springfield, Illinois driver Jeremy Conaway has declared his intentions with series officials to compete for the coveted award, adding to a list that already includes Iowa's Jeremiah Hurst and Oregon's Justin Duty.
PHOTO CREDIT: Heath Lawson
While many drivers have struggled to gain seat time in the early part of the season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conaway and his Fifteen21 Motorsports team have been busy logging laps in preparation for the upcoming MLRA season. The team recently competed with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Golden Isles Speedway and at East Bay Raceway Park in the series "Reopening Tour".
The 2020 season has been a whirlwind for Conaway, racing for a brand new team that wasn't put together until a few short months ago. "We've got a new team this year that we didn't assemble until January, so it's our maiden voyage of trying to do this on a professional level," stated Conaway.
"Having already raced this year has helped us to get a little ahead on getting some of the bugs worked out of our team. We had some gremlins the first few races but I think we've finally got them worked out. It's kind of a learning curve for us, but we're trying to stay positive and move forward and race as much as we can," he concluded.
Photo Credit--Heath Lawson, LOLMDS
The 39 year-old got his start on two wheels at a young age, compiling a successful record in motocross, but has spent the past twelve seasons competing in super late models on and off. Much of his past experience has come across the Illini state at tracks such as Farmer City Raceway, Peoria Speedway, and Spoon River Speedway.
The 2020 season will mark the first time that Conaway has been able to commit to a full traveling series schedule. "This is kind of my first full year of racing. I have owned my own business and had kids, so we just dabbled in racing, but now that the kids are getting older we are going to try to take it serious this year."
Conaway noted of the teams MLRA decision, "We decided to go after something this year that's not too large for us, but something that we can manage and handle in between going to some of the other bigger races. With the COVID situation it seems some of those areas (MLRA) are a little better suited for racing right now."
The current MLRA schedule is slated for action across four states, with the majority of the stops on the tour being first time venues for Conaway. To help with the learning curve, the rookie contender notes he will lean on some reliable veterans from time to time for help. "I'm pretty close to Brandon Sheppard, he is family, and I am good friends with Brian Shirley-we all basically grew up together. I'm able to bounce a lot of things off of those guys, but I also look forward to learning and using some of the other guys that we race with to help out when we have questions at some of the new tracks."
Conaway will be behind the wheel of an XR-1 Rocket Chassis with a Cornett Racing Engine when his team beings their MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels rookie quest next Friday, at the Randolph County Raceway (RCR) in Moberly, MO. The visit to RCR will mark the start of a three-day swing that will also include stops in Maquoketa, Iowa and at the West Liberty Raceway.
#F15 Crew Members:
Crew Chief: Mark Tutor
Pit Crew: Mike Tilly, Keith H, Andy May, Nick Shashteen, Jamie Martin
Fifteen21 Motorsports Marketing Partners:
Illini Racing Supply, Race Clean, Zeta Performance, SRI Performance, Parkland Environmental, Fox Shocks, Draco Racing Springs, STOPTECH Brakes, Maxair Fans, Ciled Digital Displays, Bell, Gorsuch Performance, RK Motorsports Consultant's.
For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com.
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Submitted By: Kirk Elliott