Jeff Fultz & JCR3 Regroup For Pro Cup Championship Series

Jeff Fultz and the JCR3 Racing Team have seen their fair share of high points and low points during their rookie season in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Southern Division in 2006. Strong qualifying efforts and top-five runs have found their way into the JCR3 record books, but for a driver and a team that are accustomed to competing for and usually securing race wins, the season overall has been a frustrating one for Fultz and company.

That’s why when most Southern Division teams began loading up their cars for the final Southern Division points event of the season at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, FL last weekend, Fultz and his team decided to stay their shop, skipping the Lakeland race in exchange for more time dedicated to getting their season turned around for the Pro Cup Championship Series, which begins at the new Iowa Speedway on September 15th.

“After we wrecked our car in our last race at Bristol, we looked at our situation and decided not to go to Lakeland to get ourselves ready for the Championship Series,” said Fultz. “We’re not running as good as we’d like to run, and even though going to Lakeland would’ve been great, we just weren’t

ready. We could’ve gotten the cars done, but we didn’t want to go without everything ready to go. We just took the extra week to get things ready.

“We haven’t been ready for a lot of races, so my owner Jimmy Craig decided to get us regrouped and get things a little better. We have to get our crew chief situation figured out and get someone in here working on the cars and getting them right. We could’ve gone out to Lakeland, but rather than going out there not 100-percent, we just stayed home and decided to get ready for Iowa.”

Fultz has grown accustomed to success over the years, so to have so many strong runs spoiled by bad luck in his rookie Pro Cup season has been a challenge to overcome. He was a three-time NASCAR Southeast Series champion and a proven winner in the ARCA RE/MAX Series before moving to Pro Cup racing. Now, Fultz wants to win in Pro Cup and wants to win badly with the JCR3 Racing team.

“This team has always won and been real competitive. We’re competitive in this series, but we’re missing the ball in some areas. That’s what we’re really focusing on. I think if we can go to Iowa and get a good run, we’ll be happy. Anytime we finish, we’re in the top-10, but breaking and wrecking have been really killing us. We’re sure we can run; we just need a little bit of luck. This series is so competitive that you can’t be off even a little bit or you’re going to be out to lunch.

After taking the Lakeland race off, Fultz and the JCR3 team remain busy at work preparing their fleet of cars for the “Four Champions” Championship Series that starts in Iowa. The Championship Series

pits the best drivers from Pro Cup’s Southern Division against the best of the best in the Northern Division for large paydays and an even larger points fund at the end of the six-race schedule. Fultz hopes that with a change in luck, he and the JCR3 team will be back on top of their games when they get to Iowa.

“Everybody would be really pumped up if we can go to Iowa and get a good run. This break lets us get a whole new car ready for Iowa and get our old car that we wrecked at Bristol fixed so we can take two good cars to the racetrack every week. Six races is not a lot, but we’re used to racing in about 10 with the (NASCAR) Southeast Series. This is kind of like starting our season all over again with these six. We’re not behind in the points, everyone’s pretty much equal going into this deal, so hopefully it will be real good for us.”

The Championship Series’ opening race takes place on September 15th at Iowa Speedway.

For more information on Jeff Fultz and the JCR3 Racing team, please contact Jeremy Troiano at (704) 455-2051 and be sure to check out the all-new JeffFultz.com website.