ARCA RE/MAX factsheet, Pocono

POCONO FACTSHEET PLUS.......

RACE:   Pepsi ARCA 200, 7-27-02
TRACK:  Pocono Raceway, 2.5-mile paved triangle
LOCATION:  Long Pond, PA
DISTANCE:  80 laps, 200 miles
SANCTION:  ARCA
SERIES:  Event #14 of the 2002 ARCA RE/MAX Series
PROMOTER:  Pocono Raceway, Inc., PR – Bob Pleban (570) 646-2300
SCHEDULE: Thurs, July 25: Practice 11 AM – 1:25 PM; Old Milwaukee Pole
Qualifying 3 PM (1 lap, all positions)
Fri, July 26: Final Practice 10 AM – 11: 15 AM
   Sat, July 27: Pepsi ARCA 200 at 1 PM

POSTED AWARDS: $195,983 in prize, point and contingency money.

ARCA OFFICIAL COMPANIES: RE/MAX International Inc, Damon RV, Featherlite
Trailers, Hoosier Racing Tires, Racing Electronics, 76 Racing Gas.

ARCA OFFICIAL PRODUCTS: Amkus Rescue Tools, Carolina Motorsports, Earl's
Performance Products, Fast Track High Performance Driving School,
Flowmaster Mufflers, Harris Torches & Regulators, Holley HP Carbs, K&N
Air Filters, K&N Oil Filters, Kluhsman Racing Products, Landrum Spring
Service, Lincoln Electric Welders, Magnum Police Equipment, Motive Gear,
National Pork Board, Old Milwaukee Beer, QuicShine 99, RJS Uniforms, S-W
Scales by Intercomp, Who’s Your Daddy?/Big Daddy’s Company.

PARTICIPATING COMPANIES: ATI Dampers, Auto Meter Instruments, Berryman
Products, Bilstein Shocks, Blake Carburetors, BSR Racing Products,
Clevite Engine Parts, CV Products, Dayco Belts & Hoses, Dr. Gas Exhaust
Components, Edelbrock, EMCO Transmissions, Ford Motor Co., Gatorade,
G-Force Racing Gear, Hedman Hedders, Hoosier Performance Tire, Hurd Air
Wrenches, Hutcherson-Pagan, Jacobs Electronics, JE Pistons, Joyce Julius
& Associates, JR’s Garage, Leading Edge Race Cars, Loctite Corporation,
Lowe Lug Nuts, MSD Ignition, Mechanix Wear, Nelson Specialties, Ohlins
Shocks, Penske Racing Shocks, Perfect Circle Piston Rings, Pro Shocks,
Quarter Master, Reed Cams, Rhyne Racing Engines, RJS Racing Equipment,
76 Performance Products, Simpson Race Products, Thermo-Tec Header Wrap,
Tilton Engineering, Victor-Reinz Gaskets, Wallace Race Car Lettering,
Wilson Manifolds.

RECORDS: Qualifying – Stuart Kirby, 53.151 (169.329 mph) 2001.  Race –
Mike Wallace (142.668 mph) 1995.

NOTES OF INTEREST:  The Pepsi ARCA 200 will be the 35th ARCA RE/MAX
Series event on the 2.5-mile Pocono triangle since 1983. However, the
first ARCA race staged at Pocono was in 1969 on the ¾-mile oval won by
Bobby Watson in a Dodge. The ARCA series did not return to Pocono until
July of '83 when Bob Schacht won in a Pontiac with an average speed of
123.288 mph. This year’s Pepsi ARCA 200 presents an interesting mix of
talent including NASCAR Winston Cup Series regular Casey Atwood who is
entered in a Ray Evernham Dodge as well as Deborah Renshaw who is
entered in a Bob Schacht Motorsports Ford. Renshaw finished 8th in her
ARCA RE/MAX debut in July at Kentucky. Schacht has 6 ARCA RE/MAX
victories at Pocono. Also entered is leading ARCA Rookie of the Year
candidate Chad Blount. Blount, who is just 22, won at MIS and Kentucky
and finished 2nd last Saturday at Berlin. Blount trails 3-time champ and
series point leader Frank Kimmel by 105 points headed to Pocono. Lake
Wales, Florida driver Mario Gosselin, after a 2-year absence, will make
his return to the series. Gosselin won from the pole in his career-1st
start at Lowe’s in ’99. ARCA RE/MAX veteran Bobby Gerhart will also
return to the series since his last outing at South Boston. Gerhart, a
2-time Daytona ARCA 200 winner and 1-time Talladega winner, is 1 of 6
drivers from PA entered. Gerhart is also bringing a 2nd team with
16-year-old Ontario, Canada driver Sean Stafford at the controls. The
ARCA Rookie of the Year title is still very-much up for grabs with
Blount leading the way by 20 points over Shelby Howard who is just 6
points ahead of 18-year-old Mt. Juliet TN driver Chase Montgomery.
Howard turns 17 on July 25. Of the drivers entered, only Tim Steele and
Kimmel are former Pocono winners. Steele is the all-time winner at
Pocono with 9 victories including five in a row (’96 through ’98)
followed by Schacht with 6 and Bob Keselowski with 5. Mike Wallace has
3; Jimmy Horton 2 and 1-time winners include Blaise Alexander, Kerry
Earnhardt, Ben Hess, Bobby Jacks, Damon Lusk, Frank Kimmel, Ryan Newman,
Jeff Purvis and Lee Raymond. Eleven ARCA RE/MAX races at Pocono have
been won from the pole.

CURRENT TOP-10 POINTS:  1) Frank Kimmel 3290; 2) Chad Blount 3185; 3)
Damon Lusk 2765; 4) Jason Jarrett 2755: 5) Chase Montgomery 2595; 6)
Billy Venturini 2565; 7) Andy Belmont 2560; 8) Shelby Howard 2530; 9)
Mark Gibson 2500; 10) Ron Cox 2305.