THE ASA SPEED TRUCK CHALLENGE SERIES BUILDS CHAMPIONS AND CAMERON JOCELYN WANTS TO BE ONE OF THEM.
If those of us past the age of 40 were asked to name the things that peaks the interest of 14 year old young men the items on those lists would be pretty much standardized. First on every one's list would be girls followed by video games, music, hanging out with friends at the local mall and of course girls-girls-girls. No one's list would mention driving a Chevrolet Truck is the ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series-ASA STC.
The ASA-STC, an outstanding western states truck racing series now in its 12th season, has a long time creed that states "we build champions." Series founder, as well as President/CEO, Jay Rutherford understands that the process of building a future racing champion has to start early in life. That exactly why his series allows 14 year old drivers to race while, at the same time, the series teaches these young drivers the rigors of racing in a regional touring series.
It's a sales pitch that Cameron Jocelyn didn't need to hear twice.When Jocelyn Motor Sports, a family racing team based in LaGuna Hills-California, looked into the ASA-STC they quickly realized that this was the next logical step in Cameron's racing career. Cameron Jocelyn turned 15 in recent weeks but, just like so many young race drivers from the southwest, he started his career at the age of five and is actually a ten year veteran of kart racing. As soon as he turned 14, the family began the process of acquiring a Chevrolet S-10 Speed Truck.
Cameron Jocelyn made his official ASA-STC debut May 24th at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino.During qualifying he toured the speedway's quarter mile paved oval and turned in a time of 14.904 seconds. Many deemed that two lap qualifying run as being extremely impressive for a first time driver. He started the 100 lap feature race in the 13th position and finished 11th. Again very respectable for a then14 year old rookie driver. His second race in the series was also at the Orange Show Speedway, this past July 5th, where he started and finished 14th. However his qualifying time for this second race was a full three-tenths of a second faster than his debut race and that's a major sign of progress. Future progress in the young driver's career is going to have to be based on patience and the all important element of seat time and everyone at Jocelyn Motor Sports is well aware of this.
When asked about his ASA-STC debut Cameron Jocelyn laughed and said "hey I got to drive a truck underage." Turning serious he added "it was kind of overwhelming at first and I was nervous. But then I settled in and started getting used to having all of the other trucks around me. I started in the back of the pack but it was a real blast. I spent my time just getting used to the feel of the truck and it was a lot of fun."
Jocelyn Motor Sports is the epitome of the all American racing family. Cameron gratefully acknowledged the help from their long time friends, the Barnes family, who assisted them in acquiring their Speed Truck. He's also very appreciative of the strong support he receives from his family who are completely committed to his racing future. Commenting on that family support Cameron said "my sister, Shelby, really helps me a lot and she makes sure that everything we need at the race track is organized and ready. My Dad, Taylor, is the team's mechanic, crew chief and driver coach." He also pointed out that his Mom, Lydia, is in charge of the team's finances. That awesome job also includes careful coordination with the team's sponsors. At the moment Jocelyn Motor Sports is receiving sponsor support from Monster Energy Drink, K&N Performance Filters, Artic Components and Alpine Stars. Already well trained in the art of never missing the opportunity to promote a sponsor Cameron said "Monster Energy supplies me with plenty of drinks at the race track to keep me energized."
Commenting on his long range goals the young driver said "I want to chase the dream of becoming a NASCAR driver and perhaps start with the Craftsman Truck Series or something similar that will get me on the road to the upper levels of NASCAR." But for right now Cameron Jocelyn truly feels that the ASA-STC is the right place for him to be right now and added "Jay, (Rutherford), runs a great series and is a really good promoter. Their series is televised and they're really good at promoting all of the drivers. It's been pretty good for me."
If you haven't already done so, make it a point to see an ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series and experience all of its excitement. While you're there keep an eye on the progress of the #15 Chevrolet S-10 Speed Truck. This series builds champions and someday Cameron Jocelyn just might turn out to be a champion.