Justin Lofton Hopes To Turn Things Around At Pocono

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  The time will come...Justin Lofton and the No. 7 RHR team have built competitive trucks, established fast speeds, and flexed their muscle as a force to be reckoned with over the last three weeks, but racing circumstance out of their hands has played a part in the end result. In Indianapolis last week, Lofton practiced within the top five and qualified 13^th, as he looked to nab an elusive top-10 finish. His effort however, ended with less than 50 laps on the board, while running in the 11^th position, when a part under the hood gave way, forcing the team behind the wall for repairs. The Mark Rette led crew turned the remainder of the race into a test session, logging laps and learning all they could for future reference. Both driver and crew chief noted that the truck was competitive, laying down laps within the top five on the speed chart.

 

• New track for the series, but not for Lofton... The Camping World Truck Series will make its debut run on the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway this weekend, but 24-year-old Lofton has enough experience, and success, on the Pennsylvania track to put his competitors on edge. The 2009 ARCA Racing Series Champion, Lofton, raced at Pocono twice last season within ARCA competition, adding a runner-up finish and an impressive race win to his racing resume. During the tour's first visit to Pocono last June, Lofton inherited the pole after rain knocked out qualifying, led the field for 14 laps, and finished second. Last July, Lofton and shot-caller Rette started from the pole and dominated 65 of the possible 82 laps en route to the race win.

 

• All for charity... Lofton will participate in fellow racer Todd Bodine's charity golf event prior to hitting the track in Pocono. Bodine's event, dubbed the Onion Slice Open, will take place on Thursday, July 29^th at the Blue Ridge Trail Golf Course in Mountaintop, Pa., will benefit pediatric patients - primarily patients suffering from brain trauma and diseases - at the John Heinz Medical Center. The golf outing is open to the public. More information can be found at ToddBodine.com.

Justin Lofton on racing at Pocono Raceway "I can't wait until Saturday's race. My last trip to Pocono was a great one - we came home with the win. It is such a unique and challenging track, to win there felt really good. Having my past experience, I feel, puts me in line if not maybe a slight advantage, over some of the other drivers and teams. I know everyone on the 7 team feels like we have a great chance there, and we would really like to bring home a strong finish."

 

Crew Chief Mark Rette on Pocono Raceway "I am look forward to Pocono. Justin runs well there. We had some great runs there last season, we ran first and second in both races we ran in ARCA last year. I think it is safe to say that Justin has an upper hand on the field with as much track time that he has entering the weekend compared to everyone else."

Equipment Information Lofton will race chassis RHR123 at Pocono. It is a truck that has not yet been raced in 2010, but is considered a sister truck to RHR110, the truck Lofton drove to a career-best qualifying effort of fourth in Gateway, and a career-best finish of third in Dover.