Atlanta Motor Speedway (Mar 5, 2017) – Jeffrey Earnhardt climbed into the Circle Sport TMG number 33 Chevrolet knowing the challenges the team would be facing at the slick track of Atlanta. All competitors had their work cut out but the 33 team had some significant hurdles to jump that few other teams experienced during the race weekend. “We really had our work cut out for us this weekend” commented a visibly tired Earnhardt post race. “When we headed out for our first practice the motor failed so we had to come in and the guys had to replace the motor. They really demonstrated how hard this small team can pull together and made it possible for us to compete on Sunday.”
With limited time for adjustments the team ran a few laps and qualified for a starting position of 35th. Earnhardt was informed they wouldn’t have a full allotment of tires for the race and he’d have to manage what he had. “We had a number of things outside of our control postpone putting the deal together in the preseason so Joe Falk and I knew we’d be up against tough circumstances early in the year” said Jeffrey. “Everyone’s working hard to secure sponsorship but until that time we’ll be doing what’s best for the team and roll with the punches.” And roll they did.
Earnhardt managed to complete the race clean and move up 3 positions to end the day with a 32nd place finish. “There were a lot of good cars only a few spots in front of us so considering we had half the tires and at least ten to fifteen million dollars less sponsorship I’d say the 33 team showed some guts” commented Jeffrey.
The sport moves west with the next stop at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the Kobalt 400 on Sunday, March 12th televised on Fox.