Montgomery Highest Finishing Rookie at Pocono

POCONO, Penn. (June 8, 2002) - Rain once again plagued an ARCA RE/MAX Series race weekend.

After Thursday's qualifying and practice were rained out, the teams only had a short, very damp practice on Friday.

The practice session was the first time #27 Montgomery Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo, driver Chase Montgomery had been around the 2.5-mile track. The lack of practice time was disappointing for the #27 team, as they were looking forward to time to test the new motor and get valuable laps around Pocono Raceway.

"It was hard to get a real feel for the track because it was still pretty wet out there," Montgomery said. "We could have really benefited from the practice time to get the car set up properly and see what our new engine could do."

Montgomery seemed to not have any problems adjusting to the unfamiliar track. The #27 machine started ninth due to the team's position in owner's points. Despite contact with a lapped car and a slide through the grass on the front stretch with only a few laps to go, Montgomery saved the car and finished eighth, the highest finishing rookie of the day.

The 18-year-old is second in the close battle for ARCA rookie of the year honors. With the 15th place finish of Chad Blount and Shelby Howard finishing 19th, Montgomery gained points in the rookie battle and moved up to sixth in the overall driver points.

"We gained valuable rookie points with our finish this weekend," Montgomery said. "It feels good to be heading into our next event in the top ten in driver's points. We're going to carry that momentum with us this weekend to Michigan."

-30-