It was another beautiful March day at the world-famous Laguna Seca Raceway as Jeff Francis strapped himself into his LKQ/Keystone, Sherwin-Williams sponsored Borrelli Motorsports prepared Spec Mustang for his first race of the day. As other commitments kept Jeff from practice and qualifications, Jeff knew he would have to be on top of his game to move to the front of the large field from his 27th starting position.
In the beginning laps, Jeff methodically stalked each car in front of him and started his charge to the front. While setting the fastest lap in his class at 1:41.8, Jeff found himself in the top 5 and set his sights on the leaders. As the checkered flag fell, Jeff had moved into 4th place with his LKQ/Keystone, Sherwin-Williams Sponsored Borelli Mustang , earning the “Sunoco Hard Charger Award” in the process for the second time in his career.
In the second race of the day, Jeff once again had to start at the back of the field. Francis showed his mettle this day as the drop of the green flag ushered a frenzy of action just ahead of him. Entering turns three and four, various racers in front of his Borelli Mustang went three and four wide while battling each other. One car was nudged off into the dirt and then darted back across to the opposite side of the track, hitting the inside retaining wall. The off track excursion created a thick cloud of dust directly in Francis’ path leaving zero visibility, reminiscent of the movie “Days of Thunder”. Fortunately Francis escaped the mele of cars untouched, and then set about chasing the lead pack. After a spirited drive, he passed 23 cars to a 4th place finish and set the second fastest lap in class with a 1:42.2. with his LKQ/Keystone Sherwin-Williams sponsored Mustang.
