ARCA RE/MAX Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 Race Report
LOFTON SECOND IN A NAIL BITER AT KENTUCKY; EMERGES FROM THE FRAY IN POINTS LEAD
Goess 7th; George 14th; Arpin 29th
ESR Survives the Rain and the Kentucky Speedway
Sparta, Kentucky (May 9, 2009) – The rain fell hard in Sparta, Kentucky leading up to the Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150, leaving the Kentucky Speedway soaked. The scheduled practice was rained out, followed by a rained out qualifying. The schedule finally permitted two hours of practice prior to the green and owner’s points were implemented to map out the starting grid.
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During the late afternoon practice when the track finally dried, each team was able to lay some rubber on the track. ESR welcomes onboard Ruby Tuesday to sponsor Tim George, Jr., driver of the No. 2 Toyota Camry, full time this season. George, Jr.’s best practice lap Saturday came on the board at 31.689 seconds, putting him in the 17th position.
Justin Lofton and his No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota Camry team put up solid numbers during practice, running a 31.454 second lap his very first lap around the track. Lofton ended practice in second place, with a best lap coming in at 31.229 seconds.
Steve Arpin and his No. 20 Taylor Motorsports Toyota Camry put up a 31.458 second lap time, putting him in the 13th position at the end of practice. Craig Goess, Jr. and the No. 81 Greenville Toyota team practiced in the 10th position with a 31.412 second lap.
By race time, the whole Eddie Sharp Racing gang was ready for the green flag to wave as the temperatures dropped and the skies cleared for some good ol’ Saturday night racing, but many were still wary of the track conditions, which had been seeping water throughout much of the weekend. Lofton, driver of the No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota Camry came over the radio one lap in and said, "The track is soaked in (turns) 3 and 4, it could get ugly.”
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Justin Lofton side-by-side with James Buescher |
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Throughout the night, Justin Lofton and the No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota Camry swapped places for the lead with James Buescher four times and spent much of the final laps side by side. After leading 43 of 100 laps, Lofton would finish the race in the second position.
"I am I am disappointed in the results from the Kentucky 150", Lofton said, "because I don't want to settle for second best. My guys put so much time and effort into the car during the week and they don't deserve to finish 2nd best. Despite the race results, it’s good to be back in the points lead again. It keeps everyone motivated and excited to be working towards the same goal, winning.”
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Tim George, Jr. and his No. 2 Ruby Tuesday crew |
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Tim George, Jr. and the No. 2 Ruby Tuesday Toyota Camry had an exciting night at the Kentucky Speedway and finished the evening in fourteenth place. George, Jr. was happy with his finish, "Given that we had a new crew chief, battery issues on pit road, and a small fender bender, I am happy about a 14th place result at Kentucky. We turned what could have been a very bad day into a decent day, coming from 2 laps down to finishing on the lead lap. The guys really rallied, and outside of the battery issue our pit stops were quick. I am looking forward to working with Jon Wolfe and my new spotter Dan as well." |
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Steve Arpin's 20 car had a tough night at Kentucky |
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Steve Arpin and the No. 20 Taylor Motors ports Toyota Camry put up a strong performance throughout the night until a brush of bad luck came on lap 78. Arpin and team were running as high as ninth, when Arpin was nailed from behind in turn 2 sending him and his team to the garage.
After the race, Arpin said, "I am incredibly disappointed with the results of the race. We had a decent car. We had a right rear tire equalize on the first run, which made us really loose until adjustments could be made on the first pit stop. At the time, we did not know we had issues with the right rear, we tightened up the car quite a bit and it was too tight. We were in good shape, after the final pit stop, where we got the car back to where we needed it to be, but we didn’t get the chance to show it on the track, because of an unfortunate situation that ended the evening for this No. 20 Taylor Motorsports Toyota Camry.”
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Craig Goess left Kentucky up a couple spots to 6th place in the ARCA points |
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Craig Goess and the No. 81 Greenville Toyota Camry had a successful evening at the Kentucky Speedway, finishing the race in the seventh position. Crew Chief Patrick Donahue was pleased overall, "We took a decent car to Kentucky this weekend and finished in the top-10. We learned a lot and we will use that to prepare for Toledo, Pocono, and Michigan in the weeks to come.”
ESR ARCA RE/MAX Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
Unofficial Results
Kentucky Speedway. Sparta, KY; May 9, 2009 |
| POS |
CAR |
DRIVER |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 2 |
6 |
Lofton |
100 |
Running |
| 7 |
81 |
Goess |
100 |
Running |
| 14 |
2 |
George |
100 |
Running |
| 29 |
20 |
Arpin |
79 |
Out |
Next Stop: The Eddie Sharp Racing foursome will head to the Toledo Speedway in Toledo, Ohio for the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care. The green flag drops at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, 2009. Tune into Arcaracing.com for live timing and scoring for all ARCA RE/MAX Series on-track sessions at Toledo |
ARCA RE/MAX Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
LOFTON SECOND IN PRACTICE
All ESR teams within 0.9 sec of leader in practice. Grid determined by points due to cancelled qualifying. All ESR drivers will start in the Top-10. |
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Justin Lofton will start tonight's race second |
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SPARTA, Kentucky (May 9, 2009) --With the weather finally clearing, practice for tonight's ARCA RE/MAX Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 was very slow paced. Drivers were forced to take a low line through turns three and four to avoid a crack in the pavement that was continuing to seep water.
Justin Lofton led the 4 ESR squads with the second fastest time of the session. Craig Goess, Steve Arpin and Tim George were 10th, 13th and 17th in the session.
Series rookie Arpin in particular was feeling good about practice, reporting that his No. 20 Taylor Motorsports Toyota Camry felt really good and that it was the first time he could really turn it where he wanted it to go and have it stick. His crew plans to free the car up a little more for the race and the 20 should be good to go! |
ESR ARCA RE/MAX Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
Practice Results
Kentucky Speedway. Sparta, KY; May 9, 2009 |
| POS |
CAR |
DRIVER |
LAPS |
LAP DIFF |
| 2 |
6 |
Lofton |
40 |
0.006 |
| 10 |
81 |
Goess |
58 |
0.597 |
| 13 |
20 |
Arpin |
49 |
0.643 |
| 17 |
2 |
George |
53 |
0.874 |
Due to rain cancelling today's qualifying session at Kentucky Speedway, the starting grid will be set based on current 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series Car Owner Point Standings. Justin Lofton will start from outside the front row. Teammates Goess, Arpin and George will start 7th, 8th and 9th respectively |
ARCA RE/MAX Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
RAIN POSTPONES PRACTICE; QUALIFYING CANCELLED; GRID SET BY POINTS |
SPARTA, Kentucky (May 9, 2009; 2 p.m. Est.) (ARCAracing.com) --ARCA RE/MAX Series and Kentucky Speedway Officials have made alterations to scheduled on-track activities for the Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky race weekend. Track crews continue to work on the racing surface after more than two inches of rain saturated the ground Friday and early Saturday morning.
A two-hour practice session, originally scheduled for 12 Noon Eastern, will now take place from 2:30-4:30 p.m. As such, Pole Qualifying has been canceled in favor of the two hour practice.
Tonight's Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 starting line-up will be set based on current 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series Car Owner Point Standings. |
The Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 will begin at the scheduled 8 p.m. start time. Pre-race ceremonies, including the 6 p.m. Chuck Wicks concert, will take place as scheduled.
Live timing and scoring and audio coverage of the Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 will be available on arcaracing.com beginning at 8 p.m. Race fans who have an ARCA Nation account (free to join at http://www.arcanation.com/) can watch live streaming video coverage of the race. |
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ARCA RE/MAX Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
EDDIE SHARP RACING LOOKS TO KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
After the win at Talladega, team looking for two in a row
Denver, N.C. (May 6, 2009) - The whole Eddie Sharp Racing gang will head to the Kentucky Speedway this weekend for the Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150. The team looks to Kentucky to grab another win, after coming off a win at the Talladega Superspeedway, as returning ARCA and ESR driver, Justin Lofton took the checkered flag April 25, 2009.
The Eddie Sharp Racing team has had a successful start to the season thus far, securing 1 win, 2 poles, 2 top-five, 3 top-ten, and 3 top-fifteen place finishes. As Kentucky steadily approaches team owner, Eddie Sharp is pleased with his team’s performance this season, "I couldn’t be more proud of my guys. All four teams have worked tremendously hard and they continue to exceed my expectations. I could not be more proud of the organization as a whole as we go into Kentucky this weekend.”
Returning to speedway action after a two week hiatus, driver Justin Lofton currently sits second in the ARCA RE/MAX Series official point standings, with teammates Tim George, Jr. following him in the seventh spot, Craig Goess, Jr. in the eighth spot, and Steve Arpin in ninth.
The Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 (100 laps/150 miles) is the fifth of 22 events on the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The 18th ARCA race at Kentucky Speedway is a one-day show. Practice begins Saturday, May 9 with a two hour practice session from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Menards Pole Qualify presented by Ansell is set for 4:00 p.m. The green drops shortly after 8:00 p.m. The race will be broadcasted LIVE through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at www.arcaracing.com. All times are local.
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Tim George, Jr. |
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 No. 2 Ruby Tuesday Toyota Camry 620 points - Seventh in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship:
"I’m looking forward to Kentucky. Testing went very well and I am showing up with a great baseline setup. I feel like if I can do well at Kentucky, a lot of other things will fall into place.”
No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota Camry
810 points - Second in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship:
"I am excited about returning to Kentucky. I didn’t have the best races there last year and I am looking to having much better runs there this time around. After the test last week, I believe we will be strong there this weekend.”
No. 20 Taylor Motorsports Toyota Camry
600 points - Ninth in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship:
"I’m looking forward to Kentucky this weekend. The guys have a good solid car under me and we had a good test there last week. Kentucky is a fun, fast track and it looks like a lot of fun to race on. I am getting better each race and we are looking for our first top five ARCA RE/MAX finish this weekend.”
No. 81 Greenville Toyota Camry
605 points - Eigth in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship:
"After last week’s test, I’m looking forward to this weekend at Kentucky. I really feel like I'm ready to win. I don't know if it can happen at Kentucky, but I feel like I'm ready. I know the team's capable of winning - that's a given. And now I feel like I'm just as ready."
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ARCA RE/MAX OPEN TEST REPORT
EDDIE SHARP RACING PARTICIPATES IN OPEN TESTING AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
Arpin, Goess, George & Lofton prepare for next week's Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 |
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ESR's Steve Arpin is currently running in the top-5 of the ongoing ARCA RE/MAX Series 2009 Most Popular Driver Award |
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SPARTA, KY (April 29, 2009) - Eddie Sharp Racing's four ARCA RE/MAX teams headed to Sparta, KY Wednesday afternoon for an ARCA RE/MAX Series open test at the newly renovated Kentucky Speedway.
The open test served in preparation for the next event on tour - the Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 Saturday, May 9th.
Fort Frances, Ontario driver Steve Arpin, among 24 other drivers who tested, circled the 1.5 mile Sparta, Kentucky speedplant in 31.643 seconds, for an average speed of 170.654 mph.
Coming off an 11th place finish at Talladega Super Speedway, Arpin said "Today went great. We turned a lot of laps and gained a ton of experience on the mile and a half race track. I think we have a good solid set-up on the car, we just have to do a little bit of tweaking when we go back for the race. We practiced in race trim all day long and I think we have a car that runs good and consistant through the long runs."
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Talladega 250 winner Justin Lofton |
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The series' most recent winner Justin Lofton, and currently second in the ARCA RE/MAX Series point standings in Eddie Sharp's No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota, was quickest in the morning session and second fastest overall with a speed of 174.836.
"We were very good right off the trailer, so we really didn't make any big changes," said Lofton. "We didn't need to. We worked on a lot of little stuff, and we know the track's going to change quite a bit by the time we come back in May. Main thing is, is that we've got a really good base-line set-up, so we can tighten or loosen as necessary from there."
ESR ARCA RE/MAX Open Test Results
Kentucky Speedway. Sparta, KY; April 29, 2009 |
| POS |
CAR |
DRIVER |
TIME |
SPEED |
| 2 |
6 |
Lofton |
30.886 |
174.836 |
| 8 |
81 |
Goess |
31.369 |
172.144 |
| 13 |
2 |
George |
31.609 |
170.837 |
| 14 |
20 |
Arpin |
31.643 |
170.654 |
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 KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
MEDIA DAY
SPARTA, KY (April 29, 2009) - (ARCAracing.com) In addition to serving as a prep day for ARCA RE/MAX Series race teams, the open test served as a media day for the track. Track officials offered media member tours of major facility updates to the track.
Speedway Motorsports, Inc., continues to progress through an opening wave of approximately $13.5 million in Kentucky Speedway facility enhancements which will expand parking, establish infield camping, augment track access roads and enhance the overall guest experience with new entrance areas along with a new restroom/ bathhouse facility.
"Kentucky Speedway is great and we're making a lot of improvements for the fans. One area in which we'll see growth is infield camping. You'll also see better parking and access roads. The fans want it and we have to give the fans what they want. That's part of our motto," Speedway Motorsports, Inc., Chairman Bruton Smith said.
Kentucky race fans will get their first glimpse of the enhancements May 9 when the speedway opens its four-weekend, six-race season with the ARCA RE/MAX Series "Drive Smart. Buckle-Up! Kentucky 150" featuring ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" cast member and country music artist Chuck Wicks in concert.
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Kentucky Speedway |
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SMI Project Manager Steve Swift said renovations are scheduled to be complete by the speedway's June 13 NASCAR Nationwide Series "Meijer 300 Presented by Ritz."
"In Phase I, we're focusing on fan accessibility and the primary parking lot. There were a lot of hills and slopes that were generally not fan friendly.
"We've been blasting non-stop and we'll have the highest parking elevation down roughly 30 feet when we're done. We've been moving dislodged limestone and shale into valleys. Eventually, the parking lot will gently roll up a hill to make the area more efficient and fan friendly.
"We pride ourselves on accommodating the fans, so we're getting the area to the point that no matter where they are at the facility, fans will have a panoramic view that gives them better perspective about where they're going and the distance between points.
"Mr. Smith is enjoying this project and he's set the goal of presenting Kentucky fans with the 'wow factor' we deliver at Atlanta, Bristol, Lowe's Motor Speedway (Charlotte , N.C.), Las Vegas, Texas and our other facilities," Swift said.
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Kentucky Speedway Phase I Track Improvements include:
Parking
> The creation of level, expanded parking areas which will accommodate as many as 14,000 vehicles. The process will displace approximately 900,000 cubic yards of rock and 1.5 million cubic yards of earth.
Exterior Enhancements
> New ticket canopies housing 34 total entrance gates.
> Creation of new outer loop roads.
> Construction of a restroom/bathhouse facility near the main entrance.
> Creation of a boulevard entrance way to the grandstand.
> New ticket buildings, entrance gates and fencing.
Interior Enhancements
> Two infield camping areas made up of more than 200 sites.
> An inner loop road to help transport fans throughout the grounds.
Future plans for the facility include the expansion of the existing concourse-level grandstands into Turns 1 and 4 and adding features such as folding seats and drink trays. Plans also include the construction of new restrooms and concession buildings; the expansion of camping options as well as the renovation of the existing infield layout.
| TRACK FACTS |
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| KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY |
| Location |
Sparta Kentucky |
Address |
4760 Sparta Pike, Sparta Kentucky, 41086 |
| Phone: |
(888) 652-RACE |
Length |
1.5-mile paved oval |
Banking |
14 degrees banking |
| First ARCA Race |
2000 |
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| EVENT SCHEDULE: SATURDAY, MAY 9th |
Noon -2:00 PM: |
ARCA RE/MAX Series Practice |
4:00 PM: |
Pole Qualifying (All Positions / 2 laps) |
8:00 PM: |
Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150
(150 miles / 100 laps) |
The Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150, the 18th appearance of the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Kentucky Speedway since its 2000 debut, is scheduled to roll off at 8:00 PM ET Saturday, May 9. Practice and Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell precede the race action Saturday afternoon.
Tickets, new infield camping and special offers for all 2009 Kentucky Speedway events can be reserved online at www.kentuckyspeedway.com, by phone at 888-652-RACE (7223), or by visiting Meijer stores or the speedway ticket offices at 400 Buttermilk Pike, Suite 100, near the Montgomery Inn Restaurant in Ft. Mitchell, Ky., or in the Sparta, Ky., Fan Center located off of Interstate 71 Exit 57 and Ky. Hwy. 35 N. |
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