USAR: Rockingham CS: Matt Lofton race notes

USARacing's Matt Lofton Has a Tough Day at the Rock
Looks Forward to South Boston

Rockingham, N.C. (October 10, 2009) -- Do you ever wish you could just go back to bed and wake up with a fresh start to the day? Well that is how Matt Lofton felt after his 13th-place finish in the Aaron's 150 presented by Black's Tire and Auto Service at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

"It's just disappointing to have a race like we had today," said Lofton. "We were on such a good streak of top-ten finishes and were looking forward to getting that first win. It just wasn't our day."

Lofton had been sitting at the top of the speed charts during the practice sessions held on Friday, but his car took a turn for the worse once he hit the track for qualifying. Come race time, Lofton and his Strutmasters.com crew battled with a car that just didn't like the changes that were being made.

"We had a really awesome race car during practice. Then we went out to qualify and thought we just freed it up too much," explained a disappointed Lofton. "At the start of the race we had the same problem, it was just really loose. There was nothing we could do to fix it."

Lofton was forced to ride around in an ill-handling race car until finally pitting for fresh tires near the midway point in the race. The tire change seemed to spark some life into the car; unfortunately, it was too little too late, as he had already fallen off the lead lap.

"We came in to change tires, and it was a completely different race car," commented Lofton. "We had a chance to win the race, and I just don't feel the tires were good here. I've never had a car that was that completely different after a tire change. We were really good there at the end of the race, just a lap down and it was too late."

To top off a day of frustrations, Lofton was caught up in some last-lap contact as he crossed the finish line.

"We got some damage there at the end of the race. There was a car that just stopped in front of us. It's just cosmetic stuff, not a big deal."

Lofton will have a "home field advantage" as the season finale for the Series heads to South Boston [Va.] Speedway for the Strutmasters 250 on Oct. 31.

"I'm happy to get back to South Boston. Hopefully we can come out of there with a win. That's my home track, so it's a good track to end the season with."

-credit: ejk