Dominick Casola, No. 1 A. Casola Farms Ford Chicagoland ARCA 200 Fast Facts
Dominick Casola, No. 1 A. Casola Farms Ford Fusion Chicagoland ARCA 200 Fast Facts Dominick Casola, Andy Belmont Racing, No. 1 A. Casola Farms Ford Fusion ARCA RE/MAX Series Race No. 20, Chicagoland ARCA 200 Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois Race Information: Event: Chicagoland ARCA 200, Saturday, September 8 at 1:00 p.m. Local Time Track: Chicagoland Speedway Qualifying: Friday, September 7 at 5:00 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 1.5 paved-oval. DuQuoin Recap: For the second time this year, ARCA RE/MAX Series rookie Dominick Casola reeled in a solid top-20 performance on the dirt. After qualifying 22nd, Casola used the 100-lap event to patiently work his way into the top-20 to grab a 17th place finish. Gateway Recap: Dominick Casola and the Andy Belmont Racing (ABR) team enjoyed a season best performance last Friday night at Gateway International Raceway. After Casola dished out an outstanding sixth place qualifying effort, Casola backed it up even further in the race by leading 11 laps before scoring a fifth place finish, a career best for the ARCA rookie. Illinois Trip Continues: For the third straight race, the ARCA RE/MAX Series will enjoy another race in the great state of Illinois. Casola this weekend will head to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois in preparation for his debut at the relatively new 1.5-oval. Casola makes his 17th trip to a facility he’s never competed on in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Confidence Is Everything: After notching two very impressive runs the last two races, many have eyes on the No. 1 A. Casola Farms Ford Fusion as a dark horse for the 20th event on the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. Are You Ready For Halloween?: Every year Casola’s sponsor A. Casola Farms offers New Jersey natives the opportunity to head to their farm for a day full of fun and activities celebrating the traditions of Halloween. Coming in late September and all of October, A. Casola Farms will have daily pumpkin pickings, hay rides, petting zoos, corn mazes and their haunted hay rides at night. And new for this year, A. Casola Farms will also open their Motorsports exhibit, not to mention the traditional fall cider and donuts. For an official list of activities and times, please call 732.332.1533 Watcha Haulin?: Crew Chief Andy Belmont has elected to bring Casola “Nina�?? to Gateway International Raceway this weekend. This is the same Ford Fusion that Casola piloted at Pocono Raceway (Casola finished eighth) and Nashville Superspeedway earlier this month. It is also the same automobile that Casola competed with at Gateway International Speedway last Friday night awarding the rookie driver with his career best qualifying effort (sixth) before turning in an outstanding fifth place finish. The team’s backup machine is nicknamed “Oklahoma�??. Point Standings: Competing in 18 of the 19 races on the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule, Casola unofficially sits 13th in the championship standings, jumping three positions (16th to 13th) within the last two races. Casola is only 70 markers from moving into the top-12 currently held by female competitor Gabi DiCarlo. Andy Belmont Racing, Chicagoland Speedway Pre-Race Quotes: Dominick Casola, driver of the No. 1 A. Casola Farms Ford: On Chicagoland: “I’m looking forward to Chicagoland. We should have a pretty good run. Our intermediate program has been very solid this year and I have a good feeling with the momentum we’ve been carrying, a top-10 finish is in order for us on Saturday.�?? On DuQuoin: “You know what, I’m pretty pleased with our performance. The track was a lot harder than Springfield, but I had a lot of fun. I’m a lot more prepared for these dirt races next year and I’m looking forward to increasing our results in 2008.�?? On Gateway: “That was awesome. We had a great car. We were strong in qualifying and even stronger in the race. It was a picture-perfect night. I said I wanted to score a top-five finish by seasons end. We accomplished that. Now, we ’re looking for a victory. I just want to thank everyone on the Andy Belmont Motorsports team and my sponsor A. Casola Farms for their support.�?? On The Points Climb: “I’m really happy. It was another goal that I set myself by the end of the year. The goal now is to keep ourselves in the top-15. I know I can do and I don’t plan to let anyone down.�?? PRIOR RESULTS: Dominick Casola, Chicagoland Speedway Prior ARCA Race Results: Date Event Start Finish Laps Status No prior starts at Chicagoland Speedway. Fast Links: Driver/Team: Dominick Casola on the web: _DominickCasola.com _ (http://www.dominickcasola.com/) Sanction: ARCA RE/MAX Series: _ARCARacing.com_ (http://www.arcaracing.com/) The Chicagoland ARCA 200 (134 laps/200 miles) is the 20th of 23 races on the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The seventh ARCA race held at Chicagoland Speedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Friday, September 7 with a two hour practice session planned from 1:00pm-3:00pm. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is set for later in the day at 5:00pm Local Time. The event will take the green flag, Saturday, September 8 shortly after 1:00pm Local Time. The race will be televised live on SPEED with additional race coverage online at _arcaracing.com_ (http://www.arcaracing.com/) . ### MEDIA CONTACT: NAME: Chris Knight, Andy Belmont Racing PHONE: 239.834.9797 EMAIL: _knight849@aol.com_ (mailto:knight849@aol.com) ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour