ESR ARCA RE/MAX Pennsylvania 200
Unofficial RACE RESULTS
Pocono Raceway. Long Pond, PA; August 1, 2009

DRIVER REPORT

George Jr. finishes top 20 in hard fought race

George, Jr.

CONCORD, NC (August 3rd, 2009) – Tim George Jr. finessed his No. 2 Ruby Tuesday Toyota to a 19th place finish on Saturday on the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway. George Jr. battled throughout the day to earn the top-20 finish after relinquishing a ninth place starting spot prior to the start of the Pennsylvania ARCA 200.

"My run at Pocono this weekend was another learning experience. I had to index my wheel after we rolled off of pit road. I gave up starting ninth and we started at the end of the longest line. It was a good experience to come back up through the field two thirds of the way," George Jr. said.

A rookie in 2009 in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, George Jr. is still learning the ins and outs behind the wheel of a stockcar. He easily walked away from his most recent Pocono experience with a long list of notes after racing his way from 41st at the start, to the 19th spot at the drop of the checkered flag. There were six cautions flags throughout the race, slowing his climb for 36 laps of the extended 82-lap race.

There were two cautions flags within the final 10 laps, including a green-white-checkered flag finish that added two additional laps to the race. The restarts challenged George Jr. behind the wheel of the No. 2 Ruby Tuesday Toyota, as the finish and fierce competition loomed while racing for a coveted top-20 run.

"We had a rough restart near the end and finished a bit worse due to that. We had a great pitstop, but the car was still too tight. I look forward to the test Tuesday at NJMP," George Jr. added.

George leaves Pocono in tenth position in ARCA RE/MAX points.

Though it is an off week from competition, on Tuesday, George Jr. and fellow Eddie Sharp Racing teammate Craig Goess will test New Jersey Motorsports Park, learning all they can through their rookie seasons.

The next scheduled race for George Jr. and the ESR Ruby Tuesday team is the Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, on Sunday, August 23rd.

The ARCA RE/MAX Series travels next to the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile-dirt in Springfield, Illinois for the annual Allen Crowe 100 Sunday afternoon, August 23rd.

DRIVER REPORT

Lofton wins Pocono, reclaims points lead

Lofton: Third win of 2009

CONCORD, NC (August 3rd, 2009) – For the second week in a row, Justin Lofton started from the pole, dominated the race and ended his day celebrating in victory lane, winning the Pennsylvania ARCA 200 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.

"Mark Rette (crew chief) and everyone on the No. 6 did a fantastic job," Lofton exclaimed after notching his second consecutive race win for Eddie Sharp Racing.

Driving the No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota, Lofton had to hold off a hungry Steve Arpin twice in the closing laps. A caution flag fell less than seven laps from the finish of the 80-lap race, forcing the restart with just three laps remaining. Arpin and the points leader entering the event, Parker Kligerman, however, got together battling for second, sending Kligerman into the outside wall.

The contact forced another caution to drop, extending the race with a green-white-checkered flag finish. By all appearances the final restart seemed pressure-free for the 23-year-old Lofton as he jumped out to a comfortable lead, but in reality the crew was intensely worried about going the distance on fuel.

Lofton made only one stop throughout the 200-miler, stopping just at the halfway mark in the race. Though multiple caution flags slowed the pace of the race, the track length, measuring 2.5-miles, and the additional laps, left the second-year ARCA RE/MAX Series competitor worried as to just how close they were at the finish.

Lofton

"I was nervous when that last caution came out. I knew we were on the edge. Mark told me a few times to save as much as I could," Lofton said.

It was Lofton's third race win of the season, the fourth of his career. He dominated the day, leading 65 of the possible 82 laps. The win, in tandem with Kligerman's misfortune, catapulted Lofton back into the points lead. He now leads Kligerman by five points.

Though the ARCA RE/MAX Series has a break in its schedule through the August 23rd race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Lofton will be staying busy and carry his race-winning momentum to the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Lofton is set to make his NASCAR debut at Michigan International Speedway on August 15th, driving a Toyota for CJM Racing. Lofton's ARCA crew chief Mark Rette will lead his debut weekend and the No. 6 crew will prepare and pit his car.

DRIVER REPORT

First ARCA RE/MAX Podium for Goess

Goess: Career-best

CONCORD, NC (August 3rd, 2009) – When Craig Goess and his Eddie Sharp Racing team unloaded the #81 Greenville Toyota Camry at Pocono Raceway (PA) for the ARCA RE/MAX Series 200-lap event, they knew that he was gunning for a strong run, including driving towards his first win of his rookie season in the series. Running in the top five for the entire event, it looked like a victory could be in reach, and even though Goess wasn’t quite able to pull off that victory, he crossed the line in third, his highest finishing position to date in the series.

“The car was pretty tight all through practice and we didn’t want to do anything too drastic, so we kept working at it a little bit at a time when we came in,” explained Goess. “It got somewhat better, but the motor felt like it was down on power. We were trying a different package with it. We ended up changing a gear to get a little more RPMs, and that seemed to help it a little.

“After practice we felt like we had about an eighth or ninth-place car and we weren’t happy with that, so we did some fairly aggressive changes to make it better. We swapped out some front springs and changed the intake on the motor. Luckily the changes we made paid off as the car was better. The only thing we were missing was the original gear. If we would have had that, we might have improved our position (during the race)”

Starting from the sixth position, Goess moved into the top five and maintained his position throughout the race, despite not having the right gear in the car.

“We had a ton of cautions in the beginning, and it seemed like we could never get going,” said Goess. “We only made one pit stop and freed the car up a little bit. We stayed in the top-five mix pretty much the whole day. That gear was hurting us – we were just running out of gear going into turn one. We had about 500 yards where we were flat and everyone else pulled us a little. We tried to make up time in other areas.”

Goess has been running well heading into the later stages of the races this season, but, in many events, something strikes Goess, making him have to fight tooth and nail to get back towards the front by the time the checkered flag flies. It almost happened again as two cars in front of him made contact, putting Goess into avoidance mode, but he made the right lane choice, got by and finished third.

“For once, nothing weird happened that prevented us from having a strong finish. Everything went pretty smooth up to the end of the race.

“A couple of the cars had fresher tires than us at the end. The #77 (Parker Kligerman) got by us and I was behind him and the #25 (Steve Arpin). He (Kligerman) got by the #25 and got to second, and coming out of three the #25 got into him and turned him. Luckily I went the right way. I could have gone high or low at the time and I chose to go low, and that was the way to get by as the #77 tore up his car pretty good by hitting the wall.

“All in all, everyone was real happy with the way the weekend turned out for us.”

Even though Goess would have liked to enter victory lane at this point at least once this season, he is pleased with his third-place finish and his results on the track every week.

“We are happy with our results lately. We just need to continue to improve and we do not have many more spots to go before getting a win. I think we have eight or nine more races, so hopefully before the end of the year we will contend for one.”

In just his first year of racing in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, Goess currently sits fourth in season points as he looks to wrap up this year within the top five and maybe even the top three by season’s end.

“You have Justin Lofton in there and it is his second year,” said Goess. “Kligerman is in there and is having an excellent year and Frank Kimmel is there. We are sitting right behind them, so I don’t think that is too shabby. I think that is commendable for our first year.”

ESR ARCA RE/MAX Pennsylvania 200
STARTING GRID (Set based on Owner Points)
Pocono Raceway. Long Pond, PA; July 31, 2009

ESR ARCA RE/MAX Pennsylvania 200
Practice Results
Pocono Raceway. Long Pond, PA; July 31, 2009