ARCA Team News - Sean Corr Finding Comfort Level At Toledo Speedway

TOLEDO, May 14, 2011: Mother Nature graciously allowed the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards teams to practice on Saturday afternoon after persistent rain in the morning had all indications of a complete washout.

Thanks to overcast skies and quick work by Toledo Speedway and ARCA officials, the half-mile oval was quickly dried allowing Sean Corr and the remainder of the ARCA Racing Series teams to participate in a 55-minute practice session from 2:05 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., nearly an hour and a half delay following the original practice slot.

During the session, Corr in his No. 82 Roush Yates Performance / Roush Yates Engines / Empire Racing Ford Fusion tackled the historic Northern Ohio short track for the first time. Quickly following in-line behind the likes of Frank Kimmel, Matt Crafton and Tom Hessert – Corr would continue to show massive improvement not only in his comfort level but on the score sheet as well.

Chassis adjustments from crew chief Howard Bixman allowed Corr’s car to find more grip on the asphalt surface which inched the No. 82 Roush Yates Performance / Roush Yates Engines / Empire Racing Ford Fusion up the leader board.

Overall, the ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year contender circled the track 58 times notching his fastest lap of 17.074 seconds at 105.424 miles per hour, landing the Mooresville, North Carolina based team 17th on the speed chart.

“We made some huge strides start to finish,” said Corr, who enters Sunday’s Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care eighth in the championship standings. “This is a new car for us at Empire Racing and it feels really comfortable. Howard (Bixman, crew chief), John (Bellesfield, team manager) and the team made some tweaks during the session and it seemed to improve the handling, so we’re going in the right direction.”

With a final practice scheduled from 3:40 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., Corr is hoping that the rain will hold off and allow his family-owned team some more time on the race track.

“We didn’t have the opportunity to test, but the field is really tight and we’re right in the mix. That’s comforting. More track time though, the better. So hopefully, the rain will stay away and we can use that final 50 minute session to make some even bigger gains. It would be nice to get a good finish for Roush Yates Performance, Roush Yates Engines, BoomText and everyone who support Empire Racing.”

When ARCA Racing Series revised the practice schedule due to inclement weather earlier this afternoon, it also forced the sanctioning body to cancel Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell originally set for later today. The field will now be set according to the rule book which reverts back to the 2010 ARCA Racing Series car owner standings.

Roush Yates Engines, Roush Yates Performance Products, BoomText and TransGroup will all serve as associate marketing partners for Corr’s 14th career ARCA start this weekend.

Recently, Empire Racing and BoomText officially announced the “Hard Corr Fans” program powered by BoomText, a mobile marketing campaign which allows fans to pledge towards becoming an official member of the Empire Racing team – not to mention helping three of Corr’s personal charities. To join the campaign, fans just simply have to text the word “CORR” to 411247 where they will receive an automated safe-secured link to join the “Hard Corr Fans” team. The activation of the project continues this weekend at Toledo.

The Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care (200 laps / 100 miles) is the fourth of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 69th ARCA race at Toledo Speedway is a two-day show. Practice continues Saturday, May 14th with a 55 minute session planned from 3:40 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. An hour on-track autograph session has been etched in from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. on race day (Sunday). The contest will take the green flag shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 15. The race will not be televised nationally but event coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the weekend will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com presented by ARCANation.com. For the second consecutive race at Toledo Speedway, the anticipated thriller will be available locally on television through the Buckeye CableSystem Sports Network (BCSN) Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. All times are local.