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Justin Lofton Wins Late Race
ARCA Thriller at Pocono
By DINO OBERTO
Results
(Long Pond, PA 8-1-09) On the final restart with four laps to go, second place running Parker Kligerman got tagged from behind by Steve Arpin as they chased close behind leader Justin Lofton en route to the white flag coming off turn three.
Kligerman, who was wowing the huge crowd with an amazing driving to the front after coming from 11th spot with 15 laps to go, smacked the wall which then sent the race into overtime.
For Lofton it was no problem from there to the finish as he went on to score his second win in a row and third of the season. He also unseated Kligerman from the ARCA points lead by five after coming into the race 100 back.
After last week’s win at Berlin Raceway in Michigan, Lofton, who early in the year had been tops in points but fell behind to Kligerman since the tour last visited Pocono in June, stated that he was going to concentrate from there on wins and let the points take care of themselves. So far so good.
Lofton started from the pole with Kligerman alongside and when the race got underway the pair was putting in an outstanding duel for the lead. It was a nip and tuck, side-by-side battle through the first 25-laps.
Kligerman finally had the power to get by Lofton with an inside move on the Long Pond straight. After a round mid-race pit stops as well as a caution period from lap 40-47, Arpin emerged as the leader but it would be short lived as Lofton took the spot on the restart.
At the time Kligerman was mired back in 11th spot while Lofton and Arpin kept pace at the front.
As the laps clicked down Kligerman was putting on a driving clinic as he worked his way frontward. And, just as it appeared time was running out on him, the caution waved with four laps remaining.
That set up the thrilling run to the finish. With two laps to go Lofton had a slight edge while Kligerman and Arpin ran two-wide. Kligerman then slide under Arpin off turn two and had his sights set on the leader coming to the final circuit.
However, Arpin drove up on Kligerman as they raced through turn three and sent him spinning into the wall and dashing any hopes of a win. Arpin admitted over his radio that he was at fault and made the mistake of hitting Kligerman.
“I’ll admit it was a little bit of a relief when I saw the 77 (Kligerman) in the wall,” said Lofton of Westmorland, CA. who drives for Eddie Sharp Racing.
“It helped us out in the points. We started out racing real close and it would have been cool to finish the same way. That’s what racing’s all about. We where sizing each other up and seeing where we would be at the end of the race.”
When asked his concerns when the final caution put Arpin and Kligerman on his tail he said, “Oh crap! I knew it was going to be who pushed their car the most. Who’s got the most 199% out of the car?
“This is an awesome race track. I’ve been watching races from here as long as I’ve watched NASCAR coming here and it has always been the kind of track I wanted to win on because there’s nothing else like it in the world.”
Matt Merrell and Craig Goess took second and third. Arpin slipped to fourth while Frank Kimmel completed the top five.
Tom Hessert, Robb Brent, Justin Marks, Bobby Gerhart and Kyle Martel rounded out the top five.
Kligerman limped home to a disappointing 21st.
Other local drivers who completed the race included Slatington’ Kory Rabenold who raced to a season best 16th, Steve Fox of Hazleton who earned 25th and Chase Mattioli who unfortunately had an early day when his engine expired after 23 laps and was credited with 32nd spot.
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