Count John Wes Townley among the contingent of folks excited to see Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson claim the front row starting positions for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Granted, the 25-year-old Townley did grow up a huge fan of the legendary Gordon.
However, the Watkinsville, Ga. native’s interest in Gordon and Johnson’s fast qualifying efforts during Sprint Cup qualifying was centered more around horsepower.
For the first time in his NASCAR career, Townley will sit behind the wheel of a car and truck later this week powered by Chevrolet engines. To be more precise, Chevrolet engines that will come from Hendrick Motorsports, the same organization that produced the power plants that helped Gordon and Johnson score the top starting spots for Sunday’s Great American Race.
Townley hopes that will bode well for him later this week when he climbs behind the wheel of the No. 05 Zaxby’s Chevrolet in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series at historic Daytona International Speedway.
“I’ve thought for a while that Hendrick produces more horsepower than anyone else out on the track,” said Townley, winner of the 2013 ARCA 200 at Daytona. “Now, I’ll get a chance to find out first hand myself this week.
“(Crew chief) Michael Shelton has done an incredible job massaging our Zaxby’s Chevrolet truck,” Townley said. “And (crew chief) Mike Ford has been burning the midnight oil getting our XFINITY Series car ready.
“I enjoy racing in the tight packs at Daytona. I really feel like we’re going to surprise some folks this week at SpeedWeeks.”
John Wes Townley PR
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