ARCA Weekly Notes Package: 7/27/09

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ARCA Weekly Notes Package: 7/27/09
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Lofton Finds Victory
Lane at Berlin; Sets New Track Record
Eddie
Sharp Racing's Justin Lofton (No. 6 Lofton Cattle-Valvoline Instant Oil Change
Toyota) joined James Buescher and Parker Kligerman as 2009 repeat winners in
the ARCA RE/MAX Series on Saturday night at Berlin Raceway, capturing the
Wolverine Power Systems 200 presented by Generac by 0.512 seconds over Matt
Merrell (No. 32 ColinsHope.org-Red Line Oil Dodge/Win-Tron Racing), Chad Finley
(No. 29 Auto Value Service Centers-AutoParts2020.com Chevrolet/BKR Racing),
Pete Shepherd (No. 25 Venturini Motorsports-National Exhaust Systems Chevrolet)
and Joey Coulter (No. 16 Darrell Gwynn Foundation-Tempest Cycles
Chevrolet/Coulter Motorsports).
It
was Lofton's second ARCA RE/MAX Series win of 2009 and third overall. The
second year Eddie Sharp Racing driver, who trails Parker Kligerman by100 points
in the Championship Point Standings, also won at Talladega Superspeedway in
April. Through 12 of 21 ARCA RE/MAX Series events in 2009, there have been six
different race winners; Lofton (Talladega, Berlin), James Buescher (Daytona,
Kentucky), Parker Kligerman (Toledo, Michigan, Mansfield, Iowa, Kentucky),
Patrick Sheltra (Salem), Sean Caisse (Rockingham) and Joey Logano (Pocono).
In
addition to finding victory lane at Berlin Raceway, Lofton set a new one-lap
track record at Berlin Raceway during Menards Pole Qualifying presented by
Ansell. Lofton's 16.857 second/93.540 mph lap around the 0.4375-mile short
track bested the previous record of 16.963 second/92.955 mph set by Justin
Allgaier in 2008.
Back-to-Back for ESR
at Berlin
Eddie
Sharp Racing has won the last two consecutive ARCA RE/MAX Series events at
Berlin Raceway, with driver Scott Speed in 2008 and Justin Lofton this past
weekend.
Of
the four Eddie Sharp Racing drivers who competed at Berlin, the organization
produced two top-10 finishes; a first-place finish for race winner Lofton and a
seventh-place finish for Greenville, North Carolina's Craig Goess. Goess, a
graduate of the NASCAR Camping World East Series for ESR, has enjoyed a string
of five top-10 finishes in the last six races, highlighted by a career-best
fourth at Kentucky Speedway on July 18.
Future Champs Have a
History of Winning at Berlin
There
have been 22 ARCA RE/MAX Series races at Berlin Raceway and the Series has
produced 17 different race winners at the .4375-mile Marne, Michigan-based
short track. Seven of those race winners have gone on to win ARCA RE/MAX Series
championships at some point in their career. The most recent Berlin race
winner-turned champion was Frank Kimmel in 2004.
Career Best Finishes
for Three of the Top-5
Three
of the top-5 finishers in Saturday's Wolverine Power Systems 200 presented by
Generac either posted or matched their career best finishes in the ARCA RE/MAX
Series, including Matt Merrell, who finished second in the No. 32
ColinsHope.org-Red Line Oil Dodge for Win-Tron Racing and Chad Finley, who
finished third in the No. 29 Auto Value Service Centers-AutoParts2020.com
Chevrolet for BKR Racing. Finley, son of former ARCA RE/MAX Series competitor
Jeff Finley, has never finished outside of the top-10 in his three career ARCA
RE/MAX Series starts (sixth at Toledo on May 17/ninth at Iowa on July 11/third
at Berlin on July 25). Pete Shepherd, in a No. 25 Venturini
Motorsports-National Exhaust Systems Chevrolet, matched a career best finish of
fourth first achieved at Gateway Int'l Raceway in 2006.
Kligerman Maintains
top-10 Streak
Cunningham
Motorsports' Parker Kligerman, a development driver for Penske Racing, headed
into Berlin hoping to join Harold Smith, Bruce Gould and Tim Steele as drivers
who have won five ARCA RE/MAX Series races in a row since the tour's inception
in 1953. Although he was unable to continue his winning streak, Kligerman
maintained his trend of top-10 finishes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series by finishing
sixth in the Wolverine Power Systems 200 presented by Generac. In 14 career
starts since 2008, Kligerman has finished outside of the top-10 just once: May
9, 2009, when he finished 17th at Kentucky after a late-race spin
while running in the top-5.
Kligerman's
sixth place finish at Berlin came despite the fact that he battled with
flu-like symptoms all weekend.
"That's
what champions are made of," said Kligerman. "They are made of making
the best out of your bad days, and that's what we had today-a bad day. I'm
feeling sicker and sicker as the adrenaline wears off. It was a rough day out
there. No one seemed to have any room for us. Funny how that works out. We'll
go to Pocono and make up for it, hopefully with a win."
Kligerman
currently leads the ARCA RE/MAX Series Point Standings over Justin Lofton and
Frank Kimmel. A rookie has won the ARCA RE/MAX Series points championship only
five times in the 56-year-old history of the tour, beginning with Jim Romine in
1953, who was a rookie by default during the ARCA RE/MAX Series' inaugural
season of competition. Other rookie champions included Larry Moyer in 1981,
Tracy Leslie in 1988, Tim Steele in 1993 and Andy Hillenburg in 1995. Per the
ARCA Rulebook, a rookie competitor cannot earn the championship and the rookie
title in the same year.
TOP TEN UNOFFICIAL ARCA RE/MAX SERIES POINTS AFTER THE WOLVERINE
POWER SYSTEMS 200 PRESENTED BY GENERAC AT BERLIN RACEAY ( RACE 12 of 21; 7-25-09);1)
Parker Kligerman, 3055; 2) Justin Lofton, 2955; 3) Frank
Kimmel, 2695; 4) Joey Coulter, 2595; 5) Craig Goess, 2580; 6) Bryan Silas,
2545; 7) Steve Arpin, 2416; 8) Patrick Sheltra, 2380; 9) Tom Hessert, 2320; 10)
Tim George, Jr., 2200.
From Short Tracking
to Tricky Triangling
The
diverse ARCA RE/MAX Series stock car tour heads from Western Michigan's Berlin
Raceway to Long Pond, Pennsylvania's Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 200 on
Saturday, August 1 (live on SPEED at 1 p.m. and live Timing and Scoring/audio
at http://www.arcaracing.com). The differences in the two facilities are
staggering as Berlin measures in at 0.4375 miles in length while Pocono is 2.5
miles and triangular shaped.
"Obviously
Berlin and Pocono are two very different racetracks," said Tom Hessert, driver
of the No. 09 Cherry Hill Classic Cars Ford. "I think the entire length of
Berlin is probably not even the length of the front stretch at Pocono. The top
speed at Berlin is less than 100 mph and the top speed at Pocono is around 200
mph so you get a very different sensation of speed at the two tracks. Berlin
races very much like a short track with beating and banging and battling
side-by-side while Pocono is more of a superspeedway style type of racing where
aerodynamics come into play. The sudden transition from short track to speedway
would be much more difficult without my team, RAB Racing with help from Ken
Schrader Racing, because they prepare our cars to adapt to each of the
different tracks that the ARCA RE/MAX Series races on. Also, I am better able
to make the transition from short tracks to speedways due to my experiences
racing in USAC. When I was racing there we would go from a quarter-mile dirt
track and then the next night we would sometimes race on a one-mile paved track
so those experiences taught me to be adaptable."
Hessert's
hometown of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is located a little over 100 miles from
Pocono Raceway.
Going for 49, err, 50
This
weekend will mark the ARCA RE/MAX Series' 49th appearance to Pocono
Raceway since 1983-if you're counting races on the 2.5-mile triangle only. The
ARCA RE/MAX Series is actually preparing for its 50th appearance at
Pocono this weekend if you include the first ARCA race contested at the
facility in 1969 when the ARCA RE/MAX Series raced on a now defunct ¾-mile
oval. Bobby Watson won the race in a Dodge and Benny Parsons was among the
drivers who competed.
Casey Mears is the
last Repeat Winner
In
2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Casey Mears won back-to-back, same-day ARCA
RE/MAX Series races at Pocono Raceway, becoming the first driver to win both
ARCA Pocono Raceway events in a single season since Tim Steele did so in 2001.
That feat will not be matched this year as June ARCA Pocono race winner Joey
Logano is not entered for the August race.
Logano
made history this year as the first driver to win in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,
the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the same year.
He is the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2003 to win in the ARCA RE/MAX Series
and the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series in the same year.
ARCA RE/MAX Series
Autograph Session in Bacardi Bistro on Friday
ARCA
RE/MAX Series drivers will sign autographs in the Bacardi Bistro, located next
to the SPEED Stage, in the Infield of Pocono Raceway on Friday, July 31 from
3:30-4:30 p.m. Alli Owens, Tom Hessert, Patrick Sheltra and Craig Goess are
among the growing list of drivers expected to participate.
Kyle Busch, David
Ragan to Support ARCA-Owned Properties this August
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch and David Ragan will each make appearances
at ARCA-owned properties this August. Busch will compete in a 100-lap CRA Late
Model race on Friday night, August 14 at Toledo Speedway, which is owned by
ARCA President Ron Drager and business man Roy Mott. Ragan will sign autographs
for race fans at ARCA-owned Flat Rock Speedway on Saturday night, August 15.
Follow ARCA on Twitter
ARCA is now on Twitter. Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/ARCA_Racing [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102651840260&s=1286&e=001gyRP6ABugbY9rnU7fI53tRWIZJbEh7rESj98BhIrl3gaJAHJNKyd4spnG73Q-Nr4aBHu3KNXrF2QWdeTa5AR3jLhUD9eex33mlmycgcovRO5ZfZk02wfgGmOk2mQvNkk].

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Upcoming
ARCA RE/MAX Series Races
Pennsylvania 200 at Pocono Raceway; Saturday, August 1
Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds; Sunday, August 23
Ansell Cut Protection 150 at Chicagoland Speedway; Friday, August 28
CONTACTS:
Don Radebaugh (419) 450-0611
Jackie L. Franzil (419) 574-2685
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