2022 ARCA Menards Series West champion and part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Jake Drew made his TA2 debut on Saturday with a statement result at Road America.
After qualifying inside the top 10, his first career start in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli was all a learning experience for the California native. Driving in the Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series division was no easy task, but his diverse background proved he was one to be reckoned with.
“Just super happy to be part of the team, part of the family,” said Drew who piloted the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro. “I felt like we made strong gains throughout the weekend. I learned a lot. This is definitely the most tools, data, feedback and teammate support that I’ve had in a long, long time. A lot more tools to be used than I’ve ever had in my career, so it was cool to piece it all together.”
On top of the series debut, it was Drew’s first career start in any race at Road America, a prestigious track where top series across the world organize events. A near podium finish stood out to many across the paddock.
“Jake Drew, what a fantastic young man, and what a great drive he had today,” said co-owner Laura Hull. “We felt good about him coming to the team. He drove from ninth and almost got a podium in his first TA2 race ever, and his first race ever at Road Atlanta. We’re just going to go back to the shop, where everybody’s been doing a great job, and we’ll just get prepared for NOLA”
For Drew, the weekend was all about piecing everything together to make a complete race day run as smooth as possible.
“I wasn’t too happy with my final practice session, which ended up hurting our starting position in the race,” Drew continued from the Silver Hare Racing’s post-race press release. “But I felt like in the race I was really strong and kind of made steady improvements all the way through. I would’ve loved to have had a lot more green-flag laps at the end, just needed a little more time. But I’m happy to bring home a clean car, fighting for a podium – almost had it there, a couple of feet off, but we’ll try again next time.”
Teammates Boris Said Jr. and Connor Mosack each expired early from the race due to mechanical issues.
Drew had one top 10 finish and five top 20 results last year in six NASCAR truck starts.