Zero to Hero in America
15.04.2005 by Harry Hogge
After the long build up to the season?s opening race in Road Atlanta, Joey
finally started racing on April 15th in the USFF2000 Championship. A
stirring qualifying session saw Joey and fellow Brit Jay Howard trade
the coveted pole position throughout the session. Jay took pole on his
last flying lap, Joey came into the second last corner three tenths of
a second up, but ran into slower traffic and was forced to abort.
From second on the grid Joey slipped to third as the 44 car pack went into turn one, squeezed onto the outside, but comfortable that he had no need to worry with 30 minutes of racing ahead of him. As the lead trio pulled clear over the first lap mayhem ensued at turn 5 mid grid, and debris was all over the track by the time the lead three came round for the second time. They all took evasive action, but Joey clipped the high kerb and was launched 5 feet in the air, coming down nose first, wrecking the car and finishing his race. With the start positions for race 2 the following day based on race 1 lap times, Joey knew he would be starting near the rear of the pack.
Recovery drives have been one of his specialities over the years, but this one was exceptional. Lap after lap he gave the commentators enough excitement to last the whole weekend. They plotted his progress through the field to the virtual exclusion of all the other race action, and a riveted paddock and crowd cheered and waved as he completed the race in an astonishing third place. Although Jay leads the points with his two wins, he knows he has a battle on his hands as they head for Mid-Ohio in May. On American television, the race report was featured between news reports from Formula 1 and Nascar! Video clips and further reports on www.cooperseries.com