ARCA RE/MAX American 200 - FINAL RACE

Should be a fun race to watch Lofton and Kligerman battle it out for the Championship.

Quote :

Down to the "Rock" for Lofton & Kligerman......

ROCKINGHAM NC (10-9-09) - Two drivers. One champion. The stage is set.
That stage is Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina where the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship is at stake. The drivers, a second-year veteran and a rookie, are Justin Lofton and Parker Kligerman. The outcome - unknown.

What we do know is that there are just 15 points that separate Lofton and Kligerman headed to Rockingham this weekend for the ARCA RE/MAX American 200, the final event of the 2009 season.

There are, of course, many other variables one could consider.

Past History at the Rock

Let's start with past history at Rockingham where Lofton has two starts ('08 & '09) and Kligerman has one. While Kligerman had some relative success in his Rockingham debut this past spring, Lofton's Rockingham resume is nothing to crow about.

Lofton made his Rockingham debut in the spring of 2008 in the Carolina 500. After qualifying a respectable third, the Westmorland, California driver got caught up in a wreck off turn two early on and eventually finished 43rd after spending most of the race in the garage for repairs.

Earlier this year, Lofton made his second start at Rockingham where he qualified fifth, but finished a dismal 22nd, five laps down after he bounced off the wall in turn four. That gives Lofton an average finish of 32.5 at Rockingham. More than likely, that will not do this weekend.

Kligerman, on the other hand, fared much better in his one and only Rockingham start. The Westport, Connecticut rookie qualified a not-so-hot 19th, but finished fifth in the race after recovering from a mid-race spin off turn two.

History tells us that Kligerman may have the edge headed to Rockingham. At any rate, the 19-year-old Penske Racing development driver still trails championship point leader Lofton by 15 points going in.

http://arcaracing.com/news.cfm?contentid=8934

This race be on SPEED (delayed airing) at 10:00PM ET Sunday 10/11/09

Good Luck Parker!!!!!!!!!!!

GO GET EM' Kligerman

Did anyone watch the race?
I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed with the the finish.
Yeah, I wanted Kligerman to win the Championship but what the heck happened there at the end????

In the final laps Kligerman w/most laps lead was leading the race and Lofton was running 4th (I think). The #54 car was catching Lofton. If he passed him Kligerman had the championship. The 54 car was instructed by his owner not to pass him. What the heck is going on? I couldn't believe what I heard.
Kenny Schrader who was next in line made a good effort to pass Lofton. I think he gave it his all but not sure after Kenny's post race interview. He said he didn't want to get in the middle of that championship stuff.

I'm totally baffled why the 54 backed off. Kinda left me with a sour note.

Congratulations to Justin winning the Championship.
Congratulations to Parker on Winning the race and doing everything that he had to do for a shot at the Championship.

Both of these kids have talent. I see a bright future for both.

bad news/good news

Quote :

James Hylton injured in ARCA race: ARCA RE/MAX Series driver James Hylton, who was transported to a local hospital following an on-track incident on lap 147 in Sunday's American 200, has been treated and released as of Sunday evening. Hylton's family indicated that the veteran driver was diagnosed with an ankle injury.(ARCA Racing)(10-12-2009)

It's good to hear that Mr. Hylton wasn't hurt seriously.

I'm not sure what the heck happened? The station just came back from a commercial and all you could see was his car smashed and on fire and the next thing ya knew he was on a stretcher.
He's basically is out there and just runs laps (field filler) .... I think it's time for him to retire.

DeeDee wrote:

Did anyone watch the race?
I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed with the the finish.
Yeah, I wanted Kligerman to win the Championship but what the heck happened there at the end????

In the final laps Kligerman w/most laps lead was leading the race and Lofton was running 4th (I think). The #54 car was catching Lofton. If he passed him Kligerman had the championship. The 54 car was instructed by his owner not to pass him. What the heck is going on? I couldn't believe what I heard.
Kenny Schrader who was next in line made a good effort to pass Lofton. I think he gave it his all but not sure after Kenny's post race interview. He said he didn't want to get in the middle of that championship stuff.

I'm totally baffled why the 54 backed off. Kinda left me with a sour note.

Congratulations to Justin winning the Championship.
Congratulations to Parker on Winning the race and doing everything that he had to do for a shot at the Championship.

Both of these kids have talent. I see a bright future for both.

To much interference from the side line. Let the drives race to win. PERIOD

That does seem strange... my guess is that the owner of the 54 was paid or somehow encourages to tell his driver to back off...

TeamBlueOval wrote:

That does seem strange... my guess is that the owner of the 54 was paid or somehow encourages to tell his driver to back off...

I was thinking the same thing I hate to see that happen.
By that happening they were fixing the outcome.