Jim Pettit II - 2004 Highlight Article NASCAR.com

For the past twenty years Jim Pettit II has showcased his talents on the short tracks of the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series and the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series. Those two decades were complete with numerous wins and track championships, but none more important than claiming the 2004 southwest Series crown.

Pettit, of Prunedale, Calif. started the 2004 season off with a third place effort at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway this past January then backed it up with a second place performance at Mesa Marin (Calif.) Raceway in March. Pettit would swap the point lead with title rival Craig Raudman of Bakersfield, Calif. three times over the course of the season but never dropped lower than third.Pettit?s season was highlighted by sweeping both wins at Madera (Calif.) Speedway, a track where he had tremendous success early in his career. He also was victorious Colorado National Speedway in August, and then won the race Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park late in the season to nearly put the title out of reach of Raudman. Pettit finished on the lead lap in all but two races. The first lap lost was at Stockton (Calif.) Speedway where a cut tire dropped him out of contention after running in the top ten. The second was late in the race at Infineon (Calif.) Raceway where he was running in the top five late in the race, but when the action was forced to extra distance, he suffered a broken axel that dropped him one lap down and a 17th place finish.

In total, Pettit completed 1,786 of 1,788 laps contested in 2004 and was running at the finish of all 14 races. He tallied four wins in 14 starts with ten top-5 and twelve top 10 performances. His average starting position this season was 10.5 with an average finishing position of 5.1; Pettit led 263 laps in five different races.

"This championship is for my crew and my family," Pettit said. "My parents have supported me my entire racing career and my team has sacrificed time with family and other pursuits in order to make this championship a reality."

Last year at the close of the season, Pettit was faced with a dilemma about the future of his Southwest Series racing career. His former car owner was getting out of racing leaving Pettit without a ride. After a lot of prayers and planning, Pettit, his wife Veronica, and his parents purchased the team from Jesse Rhodes. It was a decision that cuts to the heart of teamwork."I had to keep this thing going for the team," Pettit said. "Duane (Sharp) and all the guys have worked so hard over the past several years. It just was not fair to abandon them. We knew we were a championship caliber team and we have been close the last couple of years, so we had to find a way to make it work this year." And work it did. Let by crew chief Duane Sharp from Petaluma, Calif. Pettit's team was nearly flawless all season as they were always a threat to win each time out.

With his second major NASCAR championship in hand and first Southwest Series title, Pettit more focused and more determined to repeat as champion. Ron Hornaday Jr. is the only driver to score back-to-back titles in the Southwest Series and Pettit would like to add his name in that prestigious category. Pettit is set to defend his 2004 title January 29-30, 2005 at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway as the Southwest Series will begin its 20th season of competition