(Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)
Squarely in the Daytona 500 field, David Stremme and Inception Motorsports now have a partner. JEGS.com, the leader in delivering high performance parts, announced today it will sponsor Stremme's No. 30 Toyota in the Great American Race at famed Daytona International Speedway.
The sponsorship is an extension of Stremme's relationship with JEGS through Cody Coughlin, grandson of JEGS founder Jeg Coughlin Sr. Cody, 16, is racing late model stock cars, and the veteran Stremme is helping the younger Coughlin work through the short-track ranks.
"I like Cody," Stremme said. "I met his mom (Di) and dad (John) at the Snowball Derby and we hit it off. Cody is very well-rounded, and he's got great teachers in Gary St. Amant and Butch VanDoorn. Gary helped me a lot in my career, and we've already seen what Butch can do with Cody during this year's Speedweeks with a couple of poles and some top-five finishes at the 46th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. I'm also trying to help Cody in any way I can."
Stremme made it in the Daytona 500 field via last Sunday's qualifying, turning a lap of 191.963 mph. He'll start the race from the 42nd position, flying JEGS.com colors.
"We have a really good shot at running well," Stremme said. "We're kind of underdogs in a way (but) we were able to out-qualify some really big teams. We had to have a different agenda leading up to the 500 than other teams but come Sunday, I think we'll be able to show how hard my team has worked and hopefully get a really good result to start the season off."
Stremme and JEGS have a lot in common. JEGS is a family-owned business, as founder Jeg Coughlin Sr. and sons John, Troy, Mike and Jeg Jr., have built the company into an industry leader. The Coughlin family has a long history in racing, too, competing successfully in drag racing for years.
The Stremme family also has a racing background as David's father, mother and brother have all competed in stock-car racing.
"It's really neat, especially knowing Cody and getting to meet John," Stremme said. "We get parts from JEGS for our cars so we're very familiar with them. They have a grassroots thing going with asphalt and dirt cars. It's just really neat, especially with my background in short-track racing. For them to come on board with this team, I think it's very cool."
The 34-year-old Stremme is from the Midwest, just like Ohio-based JEGS. Stremme was born in South Bend, Ind., and grew up racing the short tracks in the area. He was named the American Speed Association Rookie of the Year in 2002 before heading South to chase his dream of racing in NASCAR.
He raced in NASCAR's Nationwide Series for three seasons, winning Rookie of the Year in 2003, before moving to Sprint Cup with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2006. He has a best finish of eighth, at Talladega, in 2007.
Stremme has competed in 137 Sprint Cup and 146 Nationwide Series races in his NASCAR career.
Inception Motorsports, based in Mooresville, N.C., switched to Toyota for 2012 and began using Triad Racing Development engines this season. Steven Lane serves as the team's crew chief.
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