Promising Starts Lead to Unfortunate Finishes December 15, 2008; ImageFIRST [befirstnow.com] WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Fantastically fast racecars and great qualifying runs didn’t help seal the deal for Jerame Donley in either the Mid-Atlantic Championship 250 or the Myrtle Beach 250. Even though Jerame and the Donley Motorsports team were dealt a tough hand to finish off the 2008 season, they remained resilient, excited about the off season and the strong possibilities for 2009. After being bumped off of the pole by five-hundreds of a second and being relegated to a sixth place starting position due to an odd inversion rule, Jerame was still content with how well his car would run in the 250-lap event. While running patiently, just 34 laps in, a car got underneath him and slipped, pushing him into the outside wall. The damage was enough to park the car and relegated the team to a 30th place finish. With the tough luck at Caraway, the team set their sights on Myrtle Beach, one of the biggest races of the season. From the first practice everyone on the team was hustling as they tried a multitude of changes to try and get the #5 LJM Machine Company/East Coast Wings & Grill Impala SS as fast as possible. After having a tough round of practice Friday, the team spent that evening coming up with a game plan, and it worked. As Jerame went out to qualify, the provisional pole was a 20.212 held by Clay Rogers. On his first lap Jerame laid down a 20.28, good enough for third place. Unfortunately, the second lap wasn’t as good as it could have been. “The car hooked up really good on the first lap and even better the second lap going through 1-2, so I drove it a little deeper into 3, but obviously it was a little too far as it pushed up off 4, and we slowed down the second lap,” reported Jerame after qualifying. Jerame and the team were still very pleased, “I knew the first lap was solid, but didn't know it was that good," as he spoke of the third place starting spot. The race started and the car was fairly neutral. Jerame was riding behind Jamie Caudill for the first 65 laps of the race trying to conserve tires and be patient; but as the first half went on, the car became a little too free up off the corner, losing forward bite. By lap 123, the leaders caught him and put him a lap down. Radio problems made it worse as he could not communicate with the team, but he raced to the break at lap 125. On the restart, he was the first car a lap down (double file restart); and he jumped out ahead of the leaders, getting his lap back. He had worked his way back up to 8th position with 2 laps to go when he got passed on the inside coming off turn 2. A second car tried to take advantage, and they ended up tangling together, putting Jerame sideways on the backstretch - driver's door to oncoming traffic. No caution flag waved, so as the leaders took the checkered flag under full throttle, Jerame sat as the traffic passed at full speed. "I had high hopes to finish out the season with a good run here at the Beach, but once again the end result was not what we had hoped for. After the incident and spin on the backstretch with two laps to go, I am just glad to be leaving here with a car that is not torn up and with no injuries. That was a pretty scary predicament to be in,” commented Jerame. Jerame summed up his season positively, realizing he had lots to be thankful for. “I would like to thank my crew, especially my Dad (Craig) and my brother (Cory) for all their hard work in getting the car ready. We put this brand new car together mid season and have had great success with it so far. With the things we have learned at each of the tracks this year and the knowledge we will gain over the winter, we should be able to open up 2009 with great success. Thanks also to Mike Jewell (crew chief) for all his input, knowledge, and willingness to help out. Special thanks to Wes Page and WP Racing shocks for setup advice and consulting. Thanks also to Billy Banks and Banks Race Engines for the continued support on and off the track. Billy works hard to provide us with the best engines on the track. Thanks to LJM Machine Company and East Coast Wings & Grill for their sponsorship. Also, thanks to Tim and Trevor Townsend for all their help and support and my buddies from UNC-Charlotte who came and helped out in their "spare time." Even though we had a short season, we had a lot of success.” So keep your eyes on JerameDonley.com for news and updates regarding the 2009 race season, and from everyone at Donley Motorsports, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!