JUPITER, Florida — Prior this weekend, Florida's Blake Koch had never competed in the ARCA Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards. He had never raced at Palm Beach International Speedway. He had never raced on rain tires and fifth place was his highest finish in his professional stock car racing career. That factual foursome went into the history books here Saturday afternoon as Koch made an incredible charge from 35th to finish 3rd in the Tire Kingdom 150 presented by ModSpace.
"It was truly a blessing to have the opportunity to compete in this event in my hometown," said Koch, who drove the Eddie Sharp Racing owned #6 Tire Kingdom sponsored Toyota for the event. "I have thank Tire Kingdom for their sponsorship and the entire team from Eddie Sharp Racing for giving me a great race car. Racing in the rain was new to me but the outcome was great. I'm really happy with our performance here and can't complain about a top three finish in the rain."
With threatening skies, ARCA officials announced prior to the race for teams to be prepared for the incoming weather and rain tires would likely be required before the checkered flag. Although he qualified third Friday afternoon, Koch started 35th in Saturday's event after missing his initial qualifying slot to replace a motor and transmission that was lost early in practice. The weather and the distant starting position didn't daunt the 24-year-old native of West Palm Beach whatsoever.
"A lot of drivers wouldn't have been able to shake something like that off," said team owner Eddie Sharp, the 2009 ARCA champions. "Blowing a motor and missing practice can really rattle a driver. Blake remained very calm and collective.You would think he had done this 1000 drivers and I really like working with drivers like that."
With the lap count still in single digits, Koch muscled the ESR/Tire Kingdom #6 through the field and broke into the top 20 as early as the third lap of the race and continued his forward press where he raced to as high as the second position. After settling into the top five respectively, Koch was faced with his newest challenge during the second caution flag of the event when the rain began to fall and the majority of teams switched from the Hoosier Short Track Radial slick tire to the newly developed grooved rain tire for the very first time in ARCA history.
"I wasn't too excited throwing him back out there on rain tires with such limited experience but we really had no choice against the weather," added Sharp. "He did a fantastic job. He shows a lot of maturity and determination for a driver with such limited experience. We couldn't have asked for a better race in such conditions, we are very happy."
With rain continuing to fall on the 11-turn road course for the remainder of the event, Koch remained a strong top five contender in the event. Using a perfect combination of caution and aggression combined with sound advice from his spotter in the inclement weather he settled into the third position behind leader Justin Marks and second place finisher Robb Brent.
"We were very fast from start," said Koch, "To come from dead last to finish third really shows what a great car we had. I wasn't too good in the rain but before it started I was fortunate to make it as high as second place."
Saturday's race came to a conclusion five laps shy of its 75 scheduled circuits on the 2.03 mile facility when heavy rains increased, causing safety concerns. At the checkered flag Koch's third place finish in his ARCA racing debut is the highest in his professional stock car racing career. Koch finished 7.302 seconds behind the winner of the race Saturday. His best lap time of the event was 79.222 and his best speed was 91.929 miles per hour.
"This was a real honor for me to driver Eddie Sharp's championship car with the sponsorship of Tire Kingdom," added Koch. "There were hundreds of Tire Kingdom employees there and being behind the wheel of the car they were all rooting for was just awesome. I thank all of them for their support."
With completion of the Tire Kingdom 150, Koch will now begin his chase for the NASCAR K&N Filters Pro Series West Championship with the Richard Childress Development- Golden Gate Racing Team based in San Francisco, California in March. Koch is also scheduled to make five starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series during the year and will be launching a series of outreach activities at various Sprint Cup races.
For additional information on professional stock car driver Blake Koch visit his official website at www.blakekoch.com. Further information on the Tire Kingdom 150 at Palm Beach International Raceway can be found at www.racepbir.com or at the official ARCA website at www.arcaracing.com.
