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Don Radebaugh
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Rookie Justin Lofton Rules at Michigan
BROOKLYN MI
(6-14-08) – ARCA RE/MAX Series rookie Justin Lofton led the final 11 circuits
Saturday at Michigan Int’l Speedway to win the Racing For Wildlife 200.
Lofton, in
the Lofton Cattle Dodge, capitalized on the late-race misfortunes of Sean Caisse
and then kept Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. at bay to earn his career-first series
victory in only his eighth series attempt.
“I
came into this series a young driver from California,” said Lofton. “I knew
that I had the talent to be successful here, but I came in a little too
aggressive and trying too hard. The last couple of weeks I just relaxed, spent
some off-time to myself, and regrouped. I came into this a lot more relaxed and
just let the race come to me. Also, honestly I had Eddie Sharp as my crew chief
the last two weeks, and Laurin Ranier as my spotter. Eddie Sharp is the best
crew chief and car owner in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. This was an emotional win
for us.”
Lofton,
who earned the SunTrust Highest Finishing Rookie of the Race award, became the
eighth different winner after nine events in 2008. The Westmorland, California
driver also established a new race record with an average speed of 150.596 mph,
surpassing the old mark of 145.956 set by David Stremme in 2006.
Caisse, who
led 51 of 100 laps, was leading with 12 laps to go when the Pelham, New
Hampshire rookie made an unscheduled pit stop to replace a left-rear tire that
had gone flat. Caisse, in the Shigeaki Hattori-owned Toyota, went one lap down
in the exchange and finished 19th. Despite Caisse’s misfortunes, he
earned the Klotz Halfway Leader award and the Aaron’s Lap Leader honors for
leading the most laps.
Stenhouse,
in the Roush Fenway Racing Ford, finished second nearly two seconds behind the
winner. The Olive Branch, Mississippi driver also padded his point lead.
“We
definitely didn’t start where we wanted to (21st), but we knew we had a good
race car,” said Stenhouse. “We drove up through there to the first caution.
I think we got up to 12th, then Lumpy decided to make a two-tire stop there. We
got out in first and got the five points for leading a lap. The top three cars
got by us with new tires, but we could stay right with them and they started
coming back to us. Then we came in for our four-tire stop and got back out in
the lead. It just wasn’t too good on new tires but it was pretty good on old
ones.”
Frank
Kimmel, who started 15th, steered the Ford Drive One-ECC Ford to the
finish in third.
“We’re
really happy with it,” said Kimmel. “It’s the third race with this car for
us and we’re still learning on it. It’s a car we got from (Jack) Roush.
It’s a really a nice race car; it’s a lot better than we are right now.”
Scott
Speed, who fought a tight condition much of the race, finished fourth in the Red
Bull Toyota. He also earned the Accel Fastest Lap of the Race award.
Brian
Scott, in the Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet, battled back from a lap down to
finish fifth.
SIM Factory
Pole winner Speed led the first 14 circuits before Scott took control on lap 15.
However, Scott gave up the lead to Stenhouse during first round pit stops when
Stenhouse got off pit road first. Stenhouse led just two laps before Scott
reassumed command. Then Caisse passed Scott for the lead on lap 31 and began to
pull away from the field. Caisse led up through lap 59 before giving the lead
back to Stenhouse during second round pit stops. But with Caisse on the
continual charge, Stenhouse did not lead long before Caisse made the pass for
the top-spot on lap 68. From there, Caisse continued to pull away from Lofton,
who by then had also passed Stenhouse for position. But with a tire going down,
Lofton quickly caught Caisse inside of 12 laps from the finish.
Patrick
Sheltra finished sixth in the Ferguson Pipe-FloraGanics Dodge in front of Ken
Butler III, who finished seventh in the Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine
Toyota. Jesse Smith finished eighth in the Lloyd’s Barbeque-Hormel-Spam-Jones
Group Dodge. Dexter Bean was ninth in the Glock Chevrolet. AJ Henriksen, who
started 30th, finished 10th earning the Casite Hard
Charger award for advancing the most positions.
Lofton’s
crew chief Eddie Sharp earned the Cometic Gaskets Crew Chief of the Race.
The next
event for the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be the Cayuga ARCA RE/MAX 250 at Cayuga
Motor Speedway in Nelles Corners, Ontario Sunday, June 29th.
Top-10
Unofficial Points After the Racing for Wildlife 200 at Michigan Int’l Speedway
(6-14-08):
1) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2015; 2) Scott Speed 1920, 3) Matt Carter 1890; 4) Frank
Kimmel 1845; 5) John Wes Townley 1725; 6) Justin Allgaier 1680; 7) Patrick
Sheltra 1675; 8) Tom Hessert III 1670; 9) Tayler Malsam 1660; 10) Ken Butler III
1640.
Official
Results
Michigan Int’l Speedway, Brooklyn MI, 6-14-08
Racing For Wild Life 200
|
FIN |
STR |
NO |
DRIVER/HOMETOWN |
TEAM
& CAR |
LAPS
|
STATUS
|
|
1 |
2 |
20 |
Justin
Lofton/Westmorland CA |
Lofton
Cattle Dodge |
100 |
Running |
|
2 |
21 |
99 |
Ricky
Stenhouse Jr/Olive Branch MS |
RoushFenway.com
Ford |
100 |
Running |
|
3 |
15 |
44 |
Frank
Kimmel/Clarksville IN |
Ford
Drive One-ECC Ford |
100 |
Running |
|
4 |
1 |
2 |
Scott
Speed/Manteca CA |
Red
Bull Toyota |
100 |
Running |
|
5 |
3 |
15 |
Brian
Scott/Mooresville NC |
Venturini
Motorsports Chevrolet |
100 |
Running |
|
6 |
19 |
60 |
Patrick
Sheltra/Indiantown FL |
Ferguson
Pipe-FloraGanics Dodge |
100 |
Running |
|
7 |
14 |
22 |
Ken
Butler III/Lilburn GA |
Aaron's
Lucky Dog Dream Machine Toyota |
100 |
Running |
|
8 |
11 |
30 |
Jesse
Smith/Wildwood MO |
Lloyd's
BBQ-Hormel-Spam-Jones Group Dodge |
100 |
Running |
|
9 |
17 |
37 |
Dexter
Bean/Westby WI |
Glock
Chevrolet |
100 |
Running |
|
10 |
30 |
7 |
AJ
Henriksen/Mooresville NC |
Engineered
Components Ford |
100 |
Running |
|
11 |
5 |
00 |
Robb
Brent/Shelby Township MI |
Abigayle
Place-Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Chev |
100 |
Running |
|
12 |
16 |
46 |
Matt
Carter/Denver NC |
Stine
Seed-Hantz Group-Fort Dodge Animal Ford |
100 |
Running |
|
13 |
8 |
09 |
John
Wes Townley/Watkinsville GA |
Zaxby's
Ford |
100 |
Running |
|
14 |
20 |
66 |
Bryan
Reffner/Stevens Point WI |
Hendren
Motorsports Chevrolet |
100 |
Running |
|
15 |
26 |
90 |
Gabi
DiCarlo/Phoenix AZ |
Great
Clips Toyota |
100 |
Running |
|
16 |
13 |
32 |
Chris
Wimmer/Wausau WI |
Win
Tron Racing-Red Line Oil Dodge |
100 |
Running |
|
17 |
22 |
5 |
Bobby
Gerhart/Lebanon PA |
Lucas
Oil Chevrolet |
100 |
Running |
|
18 |
23 |
4 |
Tayler
Malsam/Seattle WA |
Dodge
Driver Development Dodge |
100 |
Running |
|
19 |
7 |
01 |
Sean
Caisse/Pelham NH |
Aisin
AW Toyota |
99 |
Running |
|
20 |
9 |
45 |
Michael
Phelps/Suwanee GA |
Dodge-Bowen
Family Homes Dodge |
99 |
Running |
|
21 |
24 |
11 |
Bryan
Silas/Stuart FL |
Nortrax-Shell
Rotella T Ford |
99 |
Running |
|
22 |
32 |
75 |
Michael
Simko/Clarkston MI |
DenteMax
Ford |
98 |
Running |
|
23 |
18 |
1 |
Tom
Hessert III/Cherry Hill NJ |
Maaco
Auto Painting America's Body Shop Ford |
98 |
Running |
|
24 |
27 |
12 |
Alli
Owens/Daytona Beach FL |
ElectrifyingCareers.com
Chevrolet |
97 |
Running |
|
25 |
25 |
8 |
Terry
Jones/Amherstburg ON |
Jones
Group Racing Dodge |
97 |
Running |
|
26 |
10 |
25 |
Ryan
Fischer/Surrey British Col |
Venturini
Motorsports Chevrolet |
96 |
Running |
|
27 |
35 |
23 |
Donny
Kelley/Humble TX |
Porter
Glass Chevrolet |
95 |
Running |
|
28 |
29 |
29 |
Larry
Hollenbeck/Kalamazoo MI |
SWAT
Fitness Chevrolet |
94 |
Running |
|
29 |
12 |
39 |
Matt
Hawkins/Canton GA |
JaniKing-Racing
Radios Dodge |
93 |
Axle |
|
30 |
36 |
26 |
Brad
Smith/Shelby Township MI |
CCM
Mold Design & Maintenance Ford |
93 |
Running |
|
31 |
6 |
18 |
Billy
Leslie/Algonac MI |
Titan
Tires & Wheels Ford |
92 |
Suspnsn |
|
32 |
41 |
08 |
James
Hylton/Inman SC |
Fubar
Energy Drink Dodge |
92 |
Running |
|
33 |
33 |
34 |
Darrell
Basham/Henryville IN |
Darrell
Basham Racing Chevrolet |
91 |
Running |
|
34 |
31 |
24 |
Mike
Harmon/Birmingport AL |
Just1Shirt.com
Chevrolet |
87 |
Running |
|
35 |
37 |
06 |
Tim
Mitchell/Fayetteville TN |
Star
Wheels Skate Center Ford |
84 |
Running |
|
36 |
28 |
77 |
Todd
Hansen/Farmington MN |
Mad
Croc Energy Drink-JDRF Chevrolet |
84 |
Running |
|
37 |
4 |
16 |
Justin
Allgaier/Springfield IL |
AG
Tech-Hoosier Midwest-Hot Hues Chevrolet |
77 |
Running |
|
38 |
39 |
94 |
Brian
Kaltreider/Reading PA |
Independent
Graphics Ford |
29 |
Engine |
|
39 |
34 |
84 |
Norm
Benning/Pittsburgh PA |
Norm
Benning Racing Chevrolet |
28 |
Oil
Pump |
|
40 |
40 |
81 |
Greg
Seevers/West Milton OH |
Norm
Benning Racing Chevrolet |
1 |
Vibration |
|
41 |
38 |
14 |
John
Graham/Aurora Ontario |
Kickbutt
Energy Ballz Ford |
1 |
Engine |
|
SIM
FACTORY POLE AWARD: Scott Speed 38.895 (185.114 mph) |
||||||
|
MRGN
OF VICT: 1.850 seconds |
CAUTIONS:
3 for 14 laps |
|||||
|
TIME
OF RACE: 1:19:41 |
AVG
SPEED: 150.596 mph |
|||||
|
LAP
LEADERS: Speed 1-14 (14); Scott 15-22, 26-30 (13); Stenhouse
23-25, 60-67 (11); Caisse 31-59, 68-89 |
||||||
|
(51);
Lofton 90-100 (11) |
||||||