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Late Race Surge Propels
Craig Goess to Pocono ARCA Win
By Dino Oberto
(Long Pond, PA 6-5-10) After dominating through most of Saturday’s Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 ARCA Series race at Pocono Raceway, Mikey Kile looked virtually unstoppable. But, with 11 laps to run a caution waved which would change the entire outlook of the race.
Second place runner Craig Goess, who had been tailing Kile from the outset, had just made his final pit stop the lap prior while Kile had yet to do his.
Kile waited two additional laps before coming in and when the action resumed with five laps to go Goess had not only inherited the lead but was able to drive away to his career first ARCA win.
“My crew just made some really good decisions and they helped it each time we came out after a pit stop and that last time they got it to where we could come off (turn) three in that clean air and the car kept rotating good through the center and we were able to power down and make that straightaway not too long,” said Goess.
Goess hails from Woodbury, New Jersey and drives for Eddie Sharp Racing. He is in his second season of ARCA racing.
Kile was the class of the 36 car field as he was quickest in Friday practice and then qualified on the pole at 167.069 mph, nearly three miles an hour faster than outside row one starter Frank Kimmel.
The race was fast paced too as the first of only two cautions waved on lap 34 of the 80 lap contest. At that juncture Kile had lapped all but two cars, Goess and Chad Finley.
Under the sequence of pit stops during the yellow, Goess found himself as the leader with Kile second. It took only one lap for Kile to retake the top spot and again he began to pull away from the pack.
Goess was the only driver able to keep pace with Kile but was never more than a half-second within reach.
Then came the second and final yellow on lap 69. What was shaping up to be a five lap shootout never came to be as Goess emerged with the power to out run Kile to the checkered flag.
“The first time that we came in and pitted, the adjustments that we made they worked but only up to a certain point. So my crew chief just took those adjustments and went a little bit further and it made the car really drivable,” said Goess.
“We actually cracked a header pipe with about 25 (laps) to go and that car sounded absolutely terrible and I didn’t know what it was at first.”
Kile, who drove the same car that Joey Logano won with here a year ago, had to settle for second while 18-year old Finley came in third. Point leader Patrick Sheltra was fourth, the only other car on the lead lap while Kimmel completed the top five.
Rounding out the top ten were Robb Brent, Justin Marks, Dakoda Armstrong, Bobby Gerhart and Tim George, Jr.
“I was thinking that maybe today was out day. After being so strong and pulling away from the rest of the field, I figured we’d just take out time and be smooth in getting off the corners and then drive away but unfortunately it didn’t end up that way,” said Kile.
“I was just a little tight behind him off turns one and three after that final restart and just never could get quite to him (Goess).
Goess led only 13 laps while the other 67 belonged to Kile.
“This is such a special place to get your first win. There’s no other track on the circuit like it. You have to drive all three corners a different way and you have to be pretty versatile as a driver. It’s definitely not a place where you can get bored at. It’s the coolest place we come to with our series,” said Goess who hails from Woodbury, New Jersey and drives for Eddie Sharp Racing.
The race marked to 50th time the ARCA Series had competed on the 2.5-mile Tricky Triangle. The race was run in 1:26:11 at a race average speed of 139.238 mph and was the second fastest for an 80-lap race.
Local drivers Nick Igdalsky of Pocono Summit, Steve Fox of Hazleton and Chase Mattioli of Long Pond finished 17th, 22nd and 29th respectively.
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