The learning process continues.

This week in particular was bittersweet for JWM considering that after the first ever practice session the team participated in on the Lanier Speedway asphalt, they found all four lugnuts on the car loose. After all that was taken care of, the wrong gear was put on the car for the feature and that caused #23 to go 2 laps down along with fellow racer and friend Darrell Banks who also had the wrong gear. Driver's thoughts: Knowing just about every way to loose a race I think we know now how to win this one in particular; "Go lower on the gear."Now all has been said and done the team is happy because we came back without a wrecked car and now we are focusing on the car being put on show at Valvoline Express Care and the Christmas parade on December 13th.

The PEPBOYS AUTO 500 weekend was a success.

While being caught up in a crash, Silvers takes home the win with momentum to carry into Lanier this coming Thanksgiving week; If we are still in one piece after this race we are also going to put our car up on show at Valvoline Express Care here in our hometown of Calhoun GA and on december 13th the Annual downtown Calhoun Christmas parade will also feature our team. So this holiday season is busy nontheless, but I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends, because like I said, thats what I am all about. Further updates on upcoming races and news flashes will be posted on the teams website.

PEPBOYS AUTO 500 race weekend to include JWM

This weekend of the 27th , JW Motorsports hits the track; This time with the Cup series and the Nascar Craftsman Truck series in the same day. With Atlanta Motor Speedway being one of the most popular stops on the Cup circuit this is expected to be an amazing crowd and the team has to enter onto the track emmediatly following the Craftsman Truck series Easycare 250 which attracts a crowd usually of over 80,000 fans. So with all the ingredients at hand this is expected to be one of the biggest races in the teams career thus far. Team member and car maintainer Jeffrey Green says, " There is no telling who is in those stands and no telling who is in the pit area when a Cup event is in progress, career changing moments are more possible this weekend than any other weekend we have gone to Atlanta. Same said by driver Jerry Silvers jr. The team is expected to haul 8 more people with them to the speedway this weekend so Concentration and a serious attitude has never been more important. Jerry jr says, " As a driver my job is to maintain a serious approach and a rock solid concentration when it is go time, and as a team it is OUR job to be at our best as a whole".So all this being said has proof that this is undeniably the most serious race of JW Motorsports career and saturday evening will tell what has come of this of this huge weekend called the Pepboys Auto 500 race weekend.

Another week of trial and learning for team 23

This week we got to the track at 12:00pm and began work on the car emmediately by takeing the engine out of the car and takeing the starter off. We took the starter to the infield parts store and got the starter tested and both their rental starter and our starter performed the same this meaning the starting problem was not the starter...so our next part to turn to for the blame was the solenoid, we raced with the rental starter on the car and it started fine, after the race we pulled the engine out of the car again to give the part back to the owner Pete Horne and we were on our way back home. Now we have to possibly buy a solenoid and put the engine back in the car and get it ready for the Nextel Cup weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, we are going to be the most ready we have ever been for this particuliar event because like I told Jeffery, there is no telling who we will meet and no telling who is watching us work on the car and watching us on the track....Just no telling what will happen.

It seems that we have been through so much in just these 4 months of racing, we have deffinently learned alot and have learned it all the hard way, but it has nonetheless been an amazing journey thus far.I can't imagine how far we will have come in 5 years.This has been to trips in row that something has went wrong, it makes it fun, but man it can be stressful because the worry is not the problem at hand, but the fact of staring uncertainty right in the face.

Shots by Speed Pics

Another challenge for JWM.

Well, this week we took the car out on hot laps and we were really loose and I came off the track and we discovered that the right rear tire had to much air and we let it down and I went back out and that fixed the problem, but the hot temperatures caused the track to get excessively slick, then we tried a different combination of air pressures and a different shock adjustment on the right rear and handling wise, this did not hurt the car, but did not really change it either. The engine in itself was noticably slower in the straightaways, and the valve clearance is probably to blame for this, we tried a lower gap number and that's when we noticed this change, so we are going to go back to the original tire pressures and set the valve clearance back to where it was at and just see if these changes were the cause of the problems at hand. This year obviously has been a time of just experimenting and learning what does work and what doesn't. By the grace of God these experiments have not hurt us badly, all of this is making us a better team and is really exciting if you think about it because you never want to get stagnent in racing , you always want to go home that day having learned something and we have learned alot and most of it the hard way.

Thursday Thunder over, but not the racing.

Well, it was kind of emotional as I passed this camera shot right here as I went down the backstretch for the last time to end Thursday Thunder,but we are not done with races in general, we will still be racing while we get ready for next Thursday Thunder. We all had a great time and we finished races and we were there at the end, that's what matters.We got us a 3rd place finish in the points standing , for the first Thursday Thunder that's really good, as said by many track officials,I want to say thank you to all the people who were involved this Series, My dad, My mom, my brother, Jeffery, Daniel, Judy, Denis, Rusty Clanton, Eric and Diggie Bush, Rick Gandee and everyone who sat in the stands to watch us do battle.Some of those who sat in the stands were my family and thank YOU especially. Me and my crew look forward to the Winter Series and also the race we are going to participate in directly following the Nextel Cup race at Atlanta in October, and we are already excited about next year's Thursday Thunder!

By Doug Hawley, Calhoun Times Sports Editor
A Calhoun boy is making a noise these days as a bandolero race car driver.
Jerry Silvers, Jr., 17, always has an extra reason to celebrate July 4th. That also happens to be his birthday.
On the most recent birthday, Silvers was a part of 10-year Atlanta Motor Speedway's first time to have it Thursday Thunder on Wednesday the 4th.
Silvers, who considers AMS his home track, responded with a fourth place finish in the Outlaws Division. He has been participating in the special summer series since it kicked off May 31.
"Racing is my love, and God is my life." Silvers said, "I am about spending time with my family and my friends. I started in go-karts at a young age (about three years of competition) and had acceptable success before I moved up to the Bandolero Outlaw Division of racing."
Bandolero race cars are sanctioned by INEX which is the sanctioning body of the legends, bandoleros and thunder roadsters across the United States, Canada and Europe. It represents the third largest sanctioning body behind the NASCAR weekly racing series and International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) with more than 3,500 members.
INEX annually sanctions more than 2,000 races throughout the world.
Bandolero competition customarily comes in 20 or 30 lap features on a quarter-mile track-basically five to 7.5 miles. Top speeds on a straightway reach 80 miles per hour.
Silvers and his team, JW. Motorsports, will be running his bandolero car at major speedways around Georgia, Florida, Alabama and North Carolina.

FATHER is "backbone"
"My father (Jerry, Sr.) is the backbone of this team and has made it what it is today," Silvers praised. "I am very thankful to have him as a father and as my crew chief. My mother (Linda) is my encourager and spiritual leader, along with my church family (non-denominational Word of Life in Calhoun)."
His father is particularly proud of the car's No. 23.
"He (son) runs my badge number," then Sargent supervisor of the Calhoun City Police Department's day shift chimed in. "The number's on my patrol car."
Some others figure vividly in the racing mix.
"My best friend, Jeffrey Green, helps in the pit, along with my brother, Brian." Silvers informed. "Marty Carroll and Danny Elrod have helped me with sponsorship and helped to make it possible for me to chase my dream. Rusty Clanton of Hampton has offered invaluable advice to our team."
Anticipates this career
From a career standpoint, Silvers said that he expects to remain in the racing profession.
"I'm leaning toward automotive engineering to help me along the way,"he related."I want to pursue NASCAR in one form or other. I would prefer it as a driver."
For motivation, he points to some current NASCAR standouts who competed in the legends. Included are Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Reed Sorenson, David Ragan, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Paul Menard.
He observes celebrated Bill Elliott almost weekly in legends competition.
By next year, Silvers plans to compete every Tuesday night in the Summer Shootout at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC
Need more sponsors
In the close-knot family, Silvers is home-schooled.
"He couldn't do it (racing) if he were not home schooled." his father said. "He's two credits before graduating. He basically handles it o his own through a Christian Academy in Ohio."
At present, there are three Calhoun sponsors. They include Elrod Electrical and Plumbing, Carrol Pain and Body Towing Recovery and Elegant Home Furnishing.
"We really need some more sponsors," his father emphasized. "Racing is a huge sport, and there is a great opportunity for companies to get maximum exposure."
Interested sponsors can contact the family through 706-625-4408 or 770-547-9048.

Leading at Thursday Thunder

The team's thoughts on the remainder of the season, and next year's Thursday Thunder.

Well, we are going to get our sponsors together and try to make the last three races of this Thursday Thunder season and get a 2nd or 3rd place finish in the points and from my prospective that's deffinently possible. Next years Thursday Thunder will be more of a priority than just one big practice session, we are actually going to run for points and get a good points finish before we make a move to legends.

1. 
   It was really cool getting to meet new people and kind of get a start at building a fan base, I have told my crew time after time that if you are good to the people, they are good to you and that will prove true soon in the future. I can't wait to meet more people and build onto my new fan base. We are going to try and finish the remaining races left in the Thursday Thunder season and get at least a top 3 finish in the points. I expect to compete in the full Thursday Thunder season in 2008 and we can't wait until that time comes.

Fans and driver connect at Atlanta

JW Motorsports, a new team on the block from Calhoun Georgia to make premier race at Thursday Thunder on the fourth of july at AMS

Last practice day before our big debut on the 4th

Our arrival at AMS

Sgt. Calhoun P.D

This is my dad of course, he is the sgt. of the Calhoun Police Department on the day shift and has been with them for about 21 yrs.He has faced and overcome more adversity than any officer in the department in my mind, he has done alot for law enforcement in Calhoun and will continue to do more in the yrs to come.( If you look real close at the right side of the back of the car you will see a 23, thats why I have the number I have, and will run that number until it isn't my decision any longer.)