ARCA
Kentucky II: Eddie Sharp Racing race report
Team ESR shows its strength at Kentucky, claims three top 10 finishes Eddie Sharp Racing flexed its muscle at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, as three of the team's four entries came home solidly within the top 10 in the Click It or Ticket ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:37 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Team ESR shows its strength at Kentucky, claims three top 10 finishes
Eddie Sharp Racing flexed its muscle at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, as three of the team's four entries came home solidly within the top 10 in the Click It or Ticket Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 ARCA RE/MAX Series event.
Justin Lofton, who finished second in May on the 1.5-mile track, had another strong run, piloting his No. 6 Lofton Cattle / CGS Imaging Toyota into third at the finish, despite running lap times faster than the race leaders in the closing laps. Rookies Craig Goess and Steve Arpin followed, crossing Lofton across the finish line within the top 10. ESR's fourth car, wheeled by Tim George Jr., held steady, finishing 23rd in the 100-lap race.
"It builds momentum for the guys. We're going to take this and build on it. We have some really awesome racetracks coming up for us," said Lofton, who maintains the second position in the driver point standings.
Behind the wheel of the No. 81 Greenville Toyota of N.C. Toyota, Goess had an up and down night at Kentucky but his perseverance paid off with a career-best finish of fourth.
Goess originally qualified his No. 81 Toyota in the 11th position but trouble under the hood forced his Patrick Donahue-led team to change engines prior to the start of the race, forcing Goess to the rear of the field. Pit strategy early in the event paid off, giving him back the track position that he lost due to the change.
"If that's what we have to do to keep getting up here and get a win out of it, I'll start from the back," an elated Goess said. "The guys did an awesome job. Everybody worked hard on the car. We're getting it closer. We had a really good car. I'm looking forward to the next race."
Arpin and the No. 20 Pinewood Sports Toyota team led some laps late in the race and went on to claim their fourth straight top-10 effort as Arpin crossed the stripe in sixth.
"It was a good night. Our guys made a bunch of good changes on the car and kind of flipped the coin going into this one. The car was awesome. We struggled in dirty air but once we got in clean air, the car was really good," Arpin said.
Seven caution flags waved throughout the event, offering up different pit strategy under the yellow flag conditions. From fuel only to staying out on the track, the majority of the lead lap cars surprisingly played similar cards. But Goess took advantage early, and with less than 30 laps on the board, he was within the top five.
Beyond the halfway mark on lap 63, the caution flag waved yet again following a two-car run-in and one lap later, Lofton followed then-leader and eventual winner Parker Kligerman down pitroad. After the crew swapped out the tires and fueled up his Toyota, Lofton was back on track for a run at the new leader, teammate Arpin, who stayed on track to inherit the lead.
As the laps clicked down and the newer tires showed their advantages, Arpin slipped back to sixth while Goess and Lofton, who had a better car on the longer runs, moved back within the top five.
Team ESR will next hit the track on July 25th at Berlin Raceway for the Wolverine Power Systems 200 presented by Generac.
-credit: esr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Standings after Kentucky II
Next article Kentucky II: Justin Lofton race report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Parker Kligerman
Parker Kligerman withdraws from Bristol Truck race due to illness, replaced by Nick Sanchez
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
Bristol II
Parker Kligerman withdraws from Bristol Truck race due to illness, replaced by Nick Sanchez
Parker Kligerman calls Adam Andretti a “disgrace” after San Diego clash
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
San Diego
Parker Kligerman calls Adam Andretti a “disgrace” after San Diego clash
Dale Jr. might have cracked Parker Kilgerman's resolve with Daytona win
NASCAR O'Reilly
NASCAR O'Reilly
Daytona II
Dale Jr. might have cracked Parker Kilgerman's resolve with Daytona win
Latest news
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
3 h
Jesse Love barely holds off Sam Mayer for NASCAR O'Reilly win at Phoenix
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
6 h
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
7 h
NASCAR Cup Phoenix starting lineup: Blaney earns pole as Larson struggles
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
7 h
Ryan Blaney kind of faces a must-win scenario this weekend at Phoenix
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe