17-Year-Old Paul Shafer Jr., To Make A Run At 2014 Rookie Of The Year Title In The ARCA/CRA Super Series
2013 Illiana Motor Speedway SLM Track Champ Moving up to the traveling ranks full time (Special from Shafer Motorsports)
April 8, 2014
Portage, Indiana (April 8, 2014) – At just 16 years old, Paul Shafer Jr., won the 2013
Illiana Motor Speedway Super Late Model Track Championship against a strong field of
weekly Super Late Model competitors. The Portage, Indiana rising start then ended the
year by qualifying into the 46th annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway (FL)
where he finished 17th in the biggest race in the country for Super Late Models after
qualifying into the show in 15th out of 57 of the best drivers in the country.
Now 17, he moves up into the touring series wars and will race the full schedule in the
ARCA/CRA Super Series with hopes of capturing the 2014 Rookie of the Year title. In
addition to the full slate of ARCA/CRA Super Series races, Shafer Jr., and crew will also
run in as many events as possible in the ARCA Midwest Tour. The son of legendary dirt
Late Model star, Paul Shafer Sr., who still races a Legends car, will get plenty of seat
time throughout the 2014 racing season starting this weekend.
The Hoosier State teenager will get a glimpse of both tours sanctioned by ARCA as the
2014 season opener for both the ARCA/CRA Super Series and ARCA Midwest Tour is
this Saturday, April12th at the historic 1/2 (0.500) mile high-banked paved oval of Toledo
Speedway in Toledo, Ohio. Border Wars I - 7-Up 150 is the first of two combination raced
pitting the ARCA/CRA Super Series head to head with their ARCA Midwest Tour
counterparts.
"I’m excited about the combo race. To me, it means that all of the best drivers across the Midwest will be there, which is always good to gain experience." Shafer Jr., explained. "We just have to do our thing when we get there and hopefully qualify in on time. Only the top 20 get in and we have no provisional's or anything to fall back on, so it'll be tough. I've never seen the track before either. (Crew Chief) Chris (Purdy) tells me that it’s fast and if you wreck there it will total a racecar. As far as seeing the racetrack, I’ve watched one YouTube video, besides that I’ve never been there." He added.
"I think we will run well this year, with Chris Purdy as the crew chief for another season. Hopefully we can win a few more races this year and if we are lucky, earn rookie of the year in the ARCA/CRA Super Series." He continued. "This year will definitely be a learning experience because the drivers are some of the best in the nation. This year has an endless number of possibilities. It could be good or bad. Hopefully this year is the best year that I’ve had yet." Shafer Jr., ended.
Shafer Jr., does have one career start in the ARCA/CRA Super Series which came at Lucas Oil Raceway (IN) during the 2013 Fall Brawl. He also has two starts under his belt in the ARCA Midwest Tour at Grundy County Speedway (IL) in 2013 and at Madison International Speedway (WI) in 2012.
He began his racing career in Bandoleros in 2009 at 12 years old. He raced at his home track of Illiana Motor Speedway (IN) as well as at Grundy County Speedway (IL) and between then and 2010 he acquired 43 wins. In 2011, the move was made up to a Legends car where he picked up wins at the Indianapolis Speedrome as well as at Kentucky Motor Speedway. He also raced in the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The big move of his career came in the 2012 racing season as he made the huge leap from Legends to a template Super Late Model where he ended up third overall in the final points standings while winning the Rookie of the Year title. He also picked up his first career Feature Win in a full bodied stock car that season on August 11th, 2012. In addition to his 2013 Track Title at Illiana he also scored a Feature victory at Grundy County in addition to his three feature wins, all in a row at Illiana on his way to the title.
For the 2014 racing season, Shafer Jr.'s black and purple #7 Shafer Motorsports / Chevrolet which is a Pathfinder Chassis with power under the hood from Hamner Racing Engines will carry sponsorship support and decals from Southlake Body as well as Maxim Powersports and M.P.H. Promotions.
For more information about Paul Shafer Jr., and the entire Shafer Motorsports Team and to inquire about sponsorship opportunities for the 2014 campaign, please call Car Owner, Paul Shafer at: (219) 406-0067. A new website is under development and will be available later in the season. In the meantime you can go to the Shafer Racing Facebook Page located at: www.facebook.com and search for "Shafer Racing" as well as the Twitter page which can be found at: www.twitter.com/ShaferRacing7
