Jake Crum’s attempt to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in September at Richmond International Raceway encountered a speed bump. He didn’t qualify for the race.
The 20-year-old from Statesville gets another crack at debuting this weekend during the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We’re going to give it another shot,” he said by phone Thursday in balmy southern Florida, noting the temperature there reached 86 degrees. “I think we’re in a pretty good car.”
Practice for the Ford 300 is today. Qualifying is at 1 p.m. Saturday with the race to follow at 4:30.
Crum is driving the No. 72 Bandit Chippers/Zenith Cutters Toyota Camry for car owner James Carter, with Dave Fuge serving as his crew chief.
Fuge, who captained back-to-back Craftsman Truck Series championship teams in 2002-03, called the shots from the pits for Crum two weeks ago in the Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Crum started 29th and finished 25th.
Crum said Fuge asked him about driving a Nationwide car. He gladly accepted.
“It feels real good. Words can’t even explain it,” said Crum, a former Late Model Stock Car champion in the UARA-Stars touring series. “Not a lot of people get this opportunity, so I’m going to give it all I’ve got and hope for the best.”
Crum must finish ahead of at least six cars during qualifying to earn a spot in the Ford 300.
He feels he will qualify and do well in the race, despite having little experience in the series.
“I just want to keep my nose clean, not get caught up in everyone’s mess and not make a mess,” Crum said. “If the car is capable of running top 10 or top 15, that’s what we’ll do. If it’s capable of running in the top 20, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll make the best of what we got and go from there.”
In four career truck races, Crum’s average finish is 27th place.
He has yet to land a full-time ride with a race team. That breakthrough could be around the corner. It might not be in the series he anticipated, though, if all goes really well in Florida.
“My expectations are to keep my nose clean, make it in the show and get through this weekend,” Crum said. “Maybe get a few nods, ‘Hey, this guy is on a lower-budget team and running up here in the top 15 with all these (Sprint) Cup guys.' "
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