ARCA RE/MAX Series Ansell Cut Protection 150
CHICAGOLAND

LOFTON SENDS ESR BACK TO VICTORY LANE!
GOESS COMES IN EIGHTH AT CHICAGOLAND

JOLIET, Illinois (August 28, 2009)-- Justin Lofton drove his No. 6 Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota to victory for the fourth time this season in the Ansell Cut Protection 150 at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night. The victory boosted the second year racer Lofton into the lead in the driver point standings. Fellow ESR racer Craig Goess solidified his position in the top five in the points by securing an eighth place effort on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland track. Teammate Tim George Jr. scored a 21st place finish.

"It was definitely an awesome race. Mark (Rette, crew chief) and all of my guys have done such a great job. The right rear is about gone. I spun the tires on the second to last restart, spun the tires on the last restart, and thankfully the guys were racing hard behind me," Lofton said.

The Friday schedule at Chicagoland was thrown a curve when rain moved into the area, canceling the final practice session. Qualifying was delayed but all cars were able to attempt a run. Lofton scored the third position, Goess sixth and George Jr. 21st.

Once the green flag waved, Lofton crept into the lead by lap 25 and went on to lead the way for a race high 55 laps of the 100-lap race. There were seven caution flags throughout the event, including two in the closing laps, challenging Lofton with a rearview mirror full of his competition for the restarts. The final yellow waved with just a handful of laps remaining, setting up a final restart as Lofton led the field to the white and green flags simultaneously. Despite an effort by Grant Enfinger as they charged toward the checkered flag, Lofton prevailed for his third win in the last four races.

Craig Goess Jr. struggled with adjustments on the No.81 Greenville Toyota at Chicagoland Speedway

GOESS STRUGGLES; RECLAIMS FIFTH SPOT IN POINTS
As Lofton looked to defend his prime piece of real estate at the front of the field in the closing laps, his teammate Goess, in the No. 81 Greenville Toyota of N.C. Toyota, struggled with the handling of his machine.

"We needed the morning practice that we got rained out of. We got the car out of adjustment on Thursday (during the first practice run) and did some things to try to get to where it was when we unloaded. We were also trying to fix a clearance problem with the front end," explained Goess of his machine.

"The car just wasn't where it needed to be. It was good for six or seven laps after a tire stop. It was a handful to keep it on the racetrack at times."

With less than 20 laps remaining, Goess and crew chief Patrick Donahue pit for a slight adjustment and fresh tires, hoping for a boost in the final run. He held on to notch his ninth top-10 finish of the season and also reclaimed the fifth place in the point standings.

With his win, Lofton also saw a change in his point position as he moved back into the lead, now 55 points over second place Parker Kligerman.

"Eddie, Mark, all of the guys on this team work so hard. We've got a great group over here and we want this championship," Lofton added.

Rookie Tim George Jr. sits just outside the Top-10

The next race for Team ESR is this coming Friday, September 4th on the short track at Toledo Speedway.

DRIVER REPORT
LOFTON WINS ANOTHER ONE!!!
ESR Ace has Taken Three Poles and Three Wins in the Past Four Races. Regains Points Lead.

Lofton lead 55 of 100 laps

JOLIET, Illinois (August 28, 2009)-- Justin Lofton claimed his fourth ARCA RE/MAX Series win of the season on Friday night in the Ansell Cut Protection 150 at Chicagoland Speedway and in doing so, reclaimed the lead in the point standings. The 23-year-old dominated the 100-lap event in the No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota after starting from the third position. He led a race-high 55 laps and held off a hungry Grant Enfinger following a restart just one lap from the finish.

"Mark (Rette, crew chief) and all of the guys did an awesome job giving me a great racecar, as usual. I knew we had a car that was capable of winning from the start of practice on Thursday," Lofton said.

"It was a good, fun race. We led a lot of laps and the car handled so well. The right rear is down to nothing. I spun the tires on those last two restarts but the car was good, and they were battling behind me, so it all worked out."

Lofton initially took the lead on lap 25, making the pass over pole-sitter Brian Ickler, flying by on the high side. 10 laps later, the caution flag waved and Lofton then led a string of lead lap cars down pitroad for an exchange of pitstops.

With a slightly loose racecar, shot-caller Rette opted for a chassis adjustment and a new set of Hoosier tires on the No. 6 Eddie Sharp Racing machine. The pit crew peeled off a fast stop, maintaining the lead for Lofton.

Looking to save his tires and fuel, Lofton surrendered the top spot to pole-sitter Ickler for a portion of the event before turning up the wick as the laps clicked down. On lap 63 of the 100-lap race, Lofton pounced on Ickler following a restart, dropping to the inside as he made the pass. Ickler charged back but Lofton masterfully wheeled his machine as they battled over position, dropping his Toyota to the apron to complete the pass.

Lofton staked his claim on the lead, holding the position for all but four of the remaining laps.

There were seven caution flags throughout the event, lining the field up on Lofton's bumper as the laps clicked down. The final caution flag waved with just four laps remaining. That set the field up for a one-lap shootout, as Lofton took the white and green flag simultaneously.

Despite a late challenge from Grant Enfinger, Lofton held a .074-second lead at the finish.

The win was Lofton's fourth of the season, the fifth of his young career. He's won three of the last four events including Berlin, Pocono and Chicagoland. After the first 15 races of the 21-race schedule, Lofton has 13 top-10 finishes and a series leading 11 top-fives.

The win also catapulted Lofton back to the top of the point standings. He now holds the position by 55 points over Parker Kligerman.

"Eddie, Mark, all of the guys on this team work so hard. We've got a great group over here and we want this championship," Lofton exclaimed.

DRIVER REPORT
George Jr. finishes 21st at Chicagoland

"Around driver introductions I began to feel a little sick at my stomach and by lap 40 I was fully nauseous ..." -Tim George, Jr.

JOLIET, Illinois (August 28, 2009)-- In preparation for the Ansell Cut Protection 150, Tim George Jr. returned to the Chicago area with great fondness and anticipation. The 28-year-old once called Chicago home and the racetrack itself, Chicagoland Speedway, was the first place where the road racer turned stockcar driver ran his first laps behind the wheel of a stockcar.

His return was bittersweet however, after rain knocked out the final practice session and eliminated any chance the No. 2 Ruby Tuesday Toyota team may have had to dial in George Jr.'s car.

"The Chicago race started off with some bad luck when we drew first out for qualifying. After the last test, we swapped my primary car with my back up car. The car pushed a bit off of turn 4 and that hurt my overall speed, but all in all not too bad of a run for being the guinea pig," George Jr. said.

Struggling with the handling of his machine and the uncertainty of the racetrack's ‘green' condition after the early morning rain, George Jr. laid down a lap good enough for the 21st position.

However, more obstacles plagued the young driver throughout the 100-mile event, leaving him 21st at the finish.

"Around driver introductions I began to feel a little sick at my stomach and by lap 40 I was fully nauseous. We got back on the lead lap at one point, but I could not stomach the corners very well. I hate it for my guys, because we were coming off some good momentum from that dirt race. I am starting to understand side force a little better, and hopefully by our next mile and a half track we will have a better qualifying effort and race pace."

DRIVER REPORT
Goess battles handling issues

Sheer willpower

JOLIET, Illinois (August 28, 2009)-- Craig Goess and his #81 Greenville Toyota Camry team traveled to the Chicagoland Speedway this past weekend to race in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Ansell Cut Protection 150. While the weekend didnít go as planned, Goess was able to use sheer willpower to muster up an eighth-place finish.

"When we unloaded, the car was ok, but we had some clearance issues and everything we did to try to correct those made the handling on the car worse," explained Goess. "We ended up getting so far out of adjustment at the end of the day Thursday that we just had to back track and try to go a different route to fix the clearance problems."

The team attempted to make changes to his Camry to make it better, but time slipped away as Mother Nature dumped rain on the track, forcing Goess and the team to go into the race almost completely blind to the proper set-up needed.

"We really needed the practice the next morning to be able to get that fine-tuned so to speak," explained Goess. "We got rained out so we just had to wing it for qualifying, and the car just wasnít good in the race. It was just loose and it was just unpredictable the way it was acting the whole time, so it was frustrating. We thought we would finish better than eighth place, so that was disappointing, but considering the rough weekend we had, we will take the top-10 finish and move on to Toledo."

QUALIFYING UPDATE
Lofton, Goess start from rows 2 & 3

JOLIET, Illinois (August 28, 2009)-- Friday's qualifying session at Chicagoland was delayed by 15 minutes after track and series officials altered the schedule to accommodate for weather and the associated track drying needs. A Friday morning practice session was scratched due to rain and Thursday's schedule was altered by Mother Nature as well.

ESR's Justin Lofton will start from 3rd position in today's Ansell Cut Protection 150. Teammate Craig Goess lines up in the next row and Tim George Jr. will start from 21st on the grid.

Lofton currently leads the Series in poles with five. Qualifying has been scratched due to rain five times this season.

The Ansell Cut Protection 150 rolls off at 5:30 p.m. Central and is live on SPEED at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Live timing and scoring and audio will be available on arcaracing.com

PRACTICE REPORTS
Rain threatens again but practice goes on in 3 sessions

JOLIET, Illinois (August 27, 2009)-- ESR's Justin Lofton was fifth fastest among 36 drivers who participated in the first half-hour practice session at Chicagoland Speedway on Thursday afternoon. Lofton was sixth among 37 drivers in the second practice and fifth again among 29 drivers taking part in the third practice this evening.

Lofton's ESR teammate Craig Goess Jr. had his best result in the first session, posting the ninth fastest time. Teammate Tim George Jr. posted his fastest time in the third session of the day (20th)

Thursday's scheduled on-track activity at Chicagoland was altered after rain showers fell throughout the area on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The ARCA RE/MAX Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series shared track time at Chicagoland Speedway in 30-minute increments.

ARCA RE/MAX Series competitors will have the opportunity to participate in a fourth and final practice session on Friday morning from 8-8:50 a.m. Central before Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell, which is scheduled for 12:25 p.m. Central.

The Ansell Cut Protection 150 rolls off at 5:30 p.m. Central and is live on SPEED at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Live timing and scoring and audio will be available on arcaracing.com for each of Friday's scheduled ARCA RE/MAX Series on-track activities.

DRIVER PREVIEWS
Chicagoland awaits Lofton, No. 6 team

DENVER, N.C. (August 25, 2009) – Justin Lofton and the No. 6 Eddie Sharp Racing team head to Chicagoland Speedway this Friday with expectations of nothing less than a win.

Prior to last weekend's run on the dirt in Springfield, Lofton and the No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota crew had pieced together two consecutive wins in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Late race contact however, spoiled Lofton's drive for three straight after starting from the pole and leading the most laps. He ended the race in sixth.

The determined 23-year-old now heads to Chicago this weekend with plans to return to victory lane, hitting the 1.5-mile Chicagoland facility where he notched an eighth place effort in his debut at the track last season.

"We were so close last week but had some issues there at the end. The guys have been working so hard. We're fast everywhere we go. We led a lot of laps last week but didn't get the finish we wanted. We'll get back at them this week. We ran well at Kentucky so we expect the same this weekend," Lofton said.

"I love these 1.5-mile tracks because there are multiple grooves and you can really pick up speed off of the corners. Mark (Rette, crew chief) and I are looking forward to the first practice to see what we've got. I'm sure we'll be fast right away, the car always is with these guys behind me."

The last time Lofton's No. 6 Toyota toured a track measuring 1.5-miles in length, was last month at Kentucky Speedway. He finished third.

After the first 14 races of the 21-race schedule, Lofton has 12 top-10 finishes and a series leading 10 top-fives. He also has five pole awards and three wins. He currently sits second in the point standings, a mere 35 points out of first.

Lofton will climb behind the wheel of his familiar No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota and take to the track at Chicagoland on Thursday for an hour and 20-minute long practice session. Friday consists of a morning practice run and qualifying followed by the Ansell Cut Protection 150 at 6:30 P.M. Eastern time with live coverage on SPEED.

George Jr. returns to where it all began;

Despite being born and raised in the heart of New York City, Chicago is also extremely significant to first year stockcar racer Tim George Jr. He embraced the Windy City as his home for a few years, but more importantly, he got his first taste behind the wheel of a stockcar on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway, the site of this weekend's ARCA RE/MAX Series event.

Bred as a road racer, George Jr. made his first ever laps in a stockcar at Chicago one year ago, testing an ARCA machine for road racing powerhouse TRG Motorsports.

Now 14 races deep into his first full season in ARCA driving for Eddie Sharp Racing, George Jr. has notched consistent numbers; six top-15 finishes and one top-10 with a best finish of eighth, putting him 11th in the driver point standings.

Last week, in order to re-acquaint himself with the racy 1.5-mile facility, George Jr. slid behind the wheel in his No. 2 Ruby Tuesday Toyota, participating in an open test session. Of the 22 cars on hand for the test, George Jr. clocked in at 15th overall.

"Chicago is a challenging track. It is very line sensitive, and that will make for some tough racing. I tested there and learned a lot about where I need to be on the track and where I need to drive the car to in the corner. I am looking forward to going back and having a solid run," George Jr. said.

"I lived in Chicago for three years growing up, so the area is familiar and I will have a good group there to support me."