HYTORC MidSouth Partners with McLain Motorsports and J&J Race Engines

Jacob Neal McLain became a champion of sprint car racing in 2012, just three years after he ever sat in the cockpit of one of the meanest forms of motorsports for the first time.

Having been born into a racing family, it was only a matter of time before Jake would decide it was time for him to carry on the family tradition. He did so in a big way. His first full season saw him dominate the Rookie of the Year competition with the largest organization in the region, the United Sprint Car Series. He would follow that up with a Top-10 in the Southern Thunder Championship including several preliminary wins.

2012 would prove to be Jake’s year, becoming the inaugural champion in the newly formed Carolina Sprint Series. His champion- ship campaign included four feature wins and several more preliminary wins. Jake finished on the podium in all but one feature.

En route to becoming one of North Carolina’s winningest sprint car drivers, Jake’s accomplishments have won him the praise of everyone involved in the sport from race fans and competitors to the sport’s elites, such as multi-time NASCAR Championship Crew Chief Ray Evernham and World of Outlaw’s CEO Brian Carter. Media members close to the sport elected him Top-25 in the country in his division.

In 2016, Jacob looks to hit the road again challenging winged warriors, as far away as the Great Talladega National Forest, all the way to the ice cold waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

As with every successful team, the pieces are in place. New cars in the shop, beast- ly engines coming together, notebooks full of lessons learned, and confident attitudes await competitors of the Southeast.

McLain, along with engine supplier and crew chief, Jimmy Poppa of J&J Race engines, have been racing together since 2011. Jimmy has over 30 years of racing and engine development experience and has won more than his share of championships from asphalt to dirt. Since 2011, Jake and Jimmy have secured a number of wins as well as a championship in the Race Saver Series.

McLain and Poppa have teamed up with sponsor Ron Foley of HYTORC MidSouth for the 2016 season.

HYTORC is the worldwide leader in industrial bolting systems and brings over 45 years of experience in taking the #1 position and keeping it.

The newly designed car turns heads and raises eyebrows at every left turn and down every straight away. The aggressive, take-no-prisoners attitude shared by McLain, Poppa and Foley is evident in this new design and is the foundation of their partnership.

They will be running in the USCS 360 Sprints as well as a handful of asphalt races at local tracks. Mid-year will find the team attempting their first World of Outlaw Race at the famed Lowes Motor Speedway dirt track.