Berkley, MA - (May 28, 2009) – With the Pro Stock in the shop for repairs, Jake returned to competition on Saturday, May 23, 2009 in the DeSouza Motorsports-owned #28 Late Model.  Jake bounced back from involvement in an early caution to finish in the eighth position. 

Gridding from the ninth position, Jake immediately set his eyes on the front of the field.  By lap two he was already contending with the #13 of Jon Dickerman for the fifth position.  Fighting a loose condition, though, he quickly lost those spots, dropping back to eighth on lap 5. 

On the 12th go-around, Jake slowed his car down to avoid the 41 and 47, who had already spun out, but unfortunately another car came up from behind, running over the #28 Late Model and pushing Jake into the accident.  Immediately after this incident, the team took the car pit-side in order to make sure that there was no serious damage to the racecar.

“That was an unfortunate deal there.  We had the thing wowed down and were going to be able to get through without a problem.  I don’t know what happened to the guy behind me, but he clearly didn’t know about the wreck because he ran us over.  Thankfully, the damage is not that bad, though, so we can fix it,” Jake said after the race.

During the next 10 laps, the race was littered with three yellow flags.  On the lap-19 caution, the MDM team took the opportunity to pit again and tune on the racecar.  Making it back out before the green was displayed, Jake survived an additional three yellows to finish in the eighth position.

“That race tonight was strange.  We had a car capable of a top five finish before we got run over from behind.  Just by going back out we were able to gain positions.  It basically was a race of attrition, and we, thankfully, were able to get through with minimal damage.”

The next race for the MDM team will be Saturday, May 30 at 6pm.  The Late Models will be taking center stage as they compete in the 50-lap Dusty Young Memorial race, a special event honoring the late father of former Late Model standout Glenn “Fireball” Young.