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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)