Springfield, IL (August 18, 2010)- A devastating hit to the No. 32 Construct Corps Dodge Charger near the end of last Sunday’s event may have ended one of the strongest performances of the year for Win-Tron Racing and Justin Marks, but it won’t stop the team’s fight to get back to the top of the championship standings. The ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards visits the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois this Sunday for an action-packed, one-day show on the one-mile dirt oval. The first of two events away from paved racing surfaces for the ARCA Racing Series drivers, the Springfield dirt brings an opportunity for those drivers with diverse racing backgrounds and a love for the grassroots dirt racing to shine. Another solid opportunity to gain major ground in the championship standings and potentially pull of a second victory on the season was unexpectedly put to an end prematurely for Marks last weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Taking the green flag from the pole position on Sunday afternoon, Marks pulled out to a commanding lead over the rest of the field, leading the most laps all afternoon until a late race caution shuffled up the running order. Restarting in the fourth spot with less than 15 laps to go, Marks was choosing an inside line to make a pass going into turn one when he was tapped from behind and sent into the inside wall. Towing a brand new Construct Corps Dodge Charger to Springfield this weekend, Win-Tron hopes to bring back some good luck with a new car that hasn’t seen the track yet this season. Marks is also optimistic about his chances, as he enjoys competing on the dirt tracks. “I love racing the dirt,” Marks admitted. “The only dirt racing I've done was the ARCA races in 2007 and it was a total blast. I'm really looking forward to getting back because Win-Tron has had some great runs on the dirt and I know we'll have a good car.” Springfield was the site of one of the two dirt races Justin competed at in 2007, where he qualified his Robby Benton-owned machine 13th and finished the day in fourth. Last season, Win-Tron and driver Matt Merrell had a solid run at the one-mile oval, qualifying fifth and running strong all day before crossing the stripe in 10th. After a shake up in the point standings at New Jersey, Frank Kimmel took over the lead in one of the tightest points battles in the history of ARCA, just 10 points ahead of second place Craig Goess, while Justin Marks sits 75 points behind Kimmel in fourth. Coverage for this weekend’s events at the Illinois State Fairgrounds can be found on ARCARacing.com through live timing and scoring, beginning at 10 AM EST on Sunday for the ARCA Racing Series practice session. ARCA Nation will also carry live coverage of the 100 mile event, beginning at 1:00 pm CST, which you can also find on ARCARacing.com. For more on Justin Marks, visit www.justinmarksracing.com For more on Construct Corps, visit www.constructcorps.com, and follow them on Twitter (@ConstructBuddy) For more on Win-Tron, visit www.win-tronracing.com, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@WinTronRacing) |
Justin Marks on Springfield
I grew up going to dirt track races and it really planted the racing seed for me so it has a special place in my heart. We're getting down to the championship run here so it's time to turn it up a bit and get aggressive and the dirt is a great place for that because its hard racing where you can make stuff happen and really set the tone. I'm doing some USAC testing and planning on getting some seat time on the dirt in preparation to really take advantage.
The dirt tracks are always interesting for all of the ARCA teams because it’s something that you can either do really well at, or you can lose a lot of ground. Our cars have always been competitive on the dirt and our short track background really helps us there. When the driver enjoys going to a track it always helps their focus and performance, and Justin is looking forward to running well this weekend. We’re bringing a new Construct Corps Dodge that hasn’t seen the track yet this year, and the goal is to get back to where we were before the last two weeks of bad luck.
Event Schedule at Springfield
Sunday, August 22, 2010 (all times Central)
6:00 AM- ARCA Racing Series Garage Opens
9:00-10:00 AM- ARCA Racing Series Practice
11:00 AM- Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell (All positions, 1 lap)
12:45 PM- ARCA Racing Series Driver Introductions
1:00 PM- Start of the Allen Crowe 100 (100 miles/100 laps)
Justin Marks, Win-Tron Racing Stats
- Five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 13 starts this season
- Marks won his first career ARCA Racing Series event in the second race of the year at Palm Beach Speedway
- In 54 career starts, Marks has finished in the top 10 a total of 22 times and has three career pole positions
- Marks has one previous start at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in 2007. Piloting the No. 65 Robby Benton-owned entry, Justin qualified 13th and improved all day to cross the checkers in fourth.
- The last two seasons have brought solid finishes for Win-Tron Racing; in 2008 Bradley Reithmeyer steered the No. 32 to an 11th place finish after starting 12th, and Matt Merrell drove a smart race last season to wind up finishing 10th after a fifth place qualifying effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.