SPARTA, Kentucky — Eddie Sharp Racing’s Justin Lofton and his No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota Camry team entered the Kentucky ARCA 150 very confident and with momentum following their win at the Talladega Superspeedway and two Menard Ansell Pole Awards so far this season. Despite the inclement weather conditions and cancelled qualifying, Lofton started outside the front row, as the grid was mapped out based on owner points.
"... 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."— Justin Lofton
During the late afternoon practice when the track finally dried, the Lofton Cattle Toyota Camry team was able to lay some rubber on the track. The 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.
The track was still questionable as the green flag dropped, Lofton came over the radio one lap in and exclaimed, “The track is soaked in (turns) 3 and 4, it could get ugly.” Despite the track conditions Lofton was full throttle throughout the entire 100 laps of the Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 battling James Buescher until the very end.
It was side-by-side racing throughout most of the evening under the lights at the Kentucky Speedway between Lofton and Buescher. With Lofton leading 43 of 100 laps, Lofton and Buescher exchanged the lead 4 times until they came to the checkered, leaving Lofton with a second place finish.
"My restarts really weren't as good as James's (Buescher); and then when I was passing a lapped car I think I ran over a piece of debris and it put a little hole in the nose of my car, which messed with the down force a little bit and made it challenging," said Lofton. "James's car was tight until they loosened it up during the pit stop so I think both of us had our little problems with our cars; that just made things that much more interesting. I don't think you could ask for better side-by-side racing for the lead than what you saw today."
Lofton and team were able to regain the ARCA RE/MAX Series driver points lead by race’s end. Despite Lofton’s disappointment with the results of the race the team currently stands in first place with 1,285 points leading the series.
“I am I am disappointed in the results from the Kentucky 150, 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.”
Next Stop: Lofton and the No. 6 Lofton Cattle Toyota Camry team 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.
For more on Justin Lofton, please visit www.loftonracing.com.
For more on Eddie Sharp Racing, please log onto www.teamesr.com.
