Category: Other Series Racing

POCONO, Pennsylvania (August 5, 2012) – – Everyone knew it wasn’t a matter of if, but when. New Philadelphia Ohio’s Chad Hackenbracht soared to his first career ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards victory Saturday afternoon at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway after a gutsy call from crew chief Kevin Reed proved to be pivotal in the team’s first triumph in the Pennsylvania ARCA 125.

Already dubbed as a pre-race favorite after finishing second just two months prior at the 2.5-mile triangle, the CGH Motorsports team focused on dialing in their No. 58 CGH Motorsports Chevrolet during the lone practice session on Friday afternoon. After landing sixth overall, the team conferred about changes leading into Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell.

In typical Hackenbracht fashion, the 20-year old stepped it up in time trials and netted the fifth place starting spot for the 50-lap dash that awaited the team on Saturday afternoon.

The green flag flew shortly after 3:00 p.m. with the sponsorless No. 58 Chevrolet making some bold maneuvers for track position by passing the cars of A.J. Henriksen, Ryan Reed and Chris Buescher to move into the runner-up position by the completion of lap one.

A loose racecar stalled Hackenbracht’s ability to maintain the second spot early on as he fell back to fourth by lap three. By lap four, Hackenbracht was able to move back past Buescher to move into third until lap five when both Buescher and nine time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel were able to pass him. Settling for fifth at the moment, the first and only caution of the 50-lap dash would waive on lap seven when Michael Levine spun in turn one. Under the yellow, Reed instructed his driver to bring his car to pit lane for their only planned stop in the 14th race of the season.

Taking on four new tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to help his entry into the corner, Hackenbracht would restart the event in the 24th position on lap 12. Utilizing patience and guidance from spotter Joel Edmonds, Hackenbracht would methodically and quietly begin working his way back towards the top-10. Ten laps following the restart, Hackenbracht moved himself up 10 positions passing the No. 99 of Brandon Davis for 14th.

Knowing that the field would have to make a mandatory pit stop by lap 40, the driver was coached by Reed to save his tires and stay focused – little did the field know that Hackenbracht was sitting in the cat bird’s seat. By lap 29, Hackenbracht found himself back in the top-10 by passing the No. 32 of Matt Merrell and trying to stalk the No. 66 of Nelson Canache Jr. for ninth.

Still under green flag conditions, the leaders would soon have to make their required trip to pit lane. By lap 40, all of the leaders including pole sitter Brennan Poole had made their way to pit road, soaring Hackenbracht to the top of the leaderboard by lap 39.

Hackenbracht completed lap 40 with more than 25 seconds on Poole. Throughout the final 10 laps it was picture perfect for the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team as he cruised to his first career victory while also becoming the 10th different winner and third first time recipient in the ARCA Racing Series this year.

“I’m not sure what to think,” Hackenbracht said. Jokingly he continued, “You know, my parents weren’t able to make it to this race so we don’t know if they’re going to make to any of the other ones now. My dad’s back at home with a bad back, so I’ve got to say thanks to him and everything they’ve done. (Crew chief) Kevin Reed’s strategy played out great. In the past, every time we get in the lead and have the chance to win we have something go wrong. Those last 10 laps, I was just waiting for the caution. Finally, everything played into our hands and we finally got our first win and got the monkey off our back. I hope we’ll have many more to come.”

He added, “I just want to thank the guys on this race team, Kevin (Reed), John (Lanham) and Richie (Mason) and everyone else who helps us get to the race track every week. We don’t have a lot to work with and obviously, we don’t have any sponsorship, maybe this will open some opportunities. This is just amazing.”

Reed offered his sentiments on Saturday’s emotional victory. “This CGH Motorsports team has more heart and desire to do what we do more than anyone in the garage,” he sounded. “Even though we’ve been knocked down on several occasions – we rose up to the occasion again at Pocono and finally achieved our goal,” he sounded. “There are a lot of people that have helped us in numerous ways and we appreciate it sincerely. Hopefully this is the first of many. It’s been pretty overwhelming of all the support and congratulations we have received from friends, relatives and our peers. We are looking forward to the rest of the year as wins are our only concern and we are as prepared as we can be for the last six races.”

Saturday’s contest was the first ARCA Racing Series event his parents had missed in his 42nd career start through three years. In those outings, he has scored one pole, one win, seven top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes. His margin of victory was 13.453 seconds over Poole. Previously, the team had finished second, twice this season at Mobile (Ala.) International Speedway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway eight weeks earlier.

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is the Berlin ARCA 200 presented by Hantz at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway on Saturday, August 11. Last July, Hackenbracht finished fifth at the .4-mile paved oval. Unofficially, Hackenbracht will enter the 15th race of the season this upcoming week fifth in the championship standings.

CGH Motorsports still has marketing partnerships available for the 2012 ARCA Racing Series season. Interested parties can contact Jordan Dahl at Jordan@cghmotorsports.comor 570.234.5449.

For more information on Chad Hackenbracht and CGH Motorsports, please visit ChadHackenbracht.comand CGHMotorsports.com.

Connect with Chad Hackenbracht and CGH Motorsports through Facebook by clicking here.

Tweet with Chad Hackenbracht through Twitter at @ChadH58 or CGH Motorsports @CGH5858.

About CGH Motorsports:

CGH Motorsports (CGHMotorsports.com), established in 2007 by Ohio entrepreneur Greg Hackenbracht is located in a 10,000 sq. foot facility located in Mooresville, North Carolina. CGH Motorsports is home of rising sensation Chad Hackenbracht, who competed in nine ARCA Racing Series races in 2010 after an aggressive ARCA testing schedule in 2009. Chad Hackenbracht is the 2008 National Asphalt Legends champion, winning 33 percent of his races and finishing in the top-10, 85 percent of the events he competed in. The team has stepped up their commitment from a partial schedule in 2010 and ran a full-effort in 2011, and will attempt another full season of competition in 2012.

LONG POND, Pennsylvania (August 6, 2012) – – After finishing 10th just eight weeks ago at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Josh Williams (@Josh02Williams) and his Josh Williams Motorsports (JWM) team were optimistic about their chances for a similar run in this past Saturday’s Pennsylvania ARCA 125 despite bringing a brand new No. 02 Southwest Florida Cable Construction Ford Fusion to the track known as “The Tricky Triangle.”

Unfortunately, on his Birthday weekend where Williams turned 19 on Friday, August 3, the team’s hopes of landing their fourth top-10 finish of the year were dashed in the early stages of the 50-lap shootout.

A respectable 17th in practice topped off with an impressive 15th place qualifying run for a family-owned team running on a skeleton budget, the team’s morale was riding high for the 14th race of the year.

Shortly after taking the green flag on Saturday afternoon, trouble struck the Concord, North Carolina-based team as on lap three while racing in a wad of cars inside the top-15, Williams keyed the microphone that he had no fuel pressure and had to come to pit road.

Dropping off the track in turn three, Williams coasted to pit lane where his team raised the hood on the No. 02 Southwest Florida Cable Construction Ford Fusion analyzed the situation and sent their driver back into competition.

Though a lap down to the competition, Williams would return to the racetrack gunning for every position available. The first and only caution of the day waived on lap seven when Michael Levine spun in turn one. The team elected to keep their driver on the race track restarting the race in the 31st position on lap 12 and the first car eligible for the “Lucky Dog”

With Williams posting respectable lap times, the team was prepared to ride the Pennsylvania ARCA 125 out and hope through attrition and competition that they would be able to battle back and salvage a decent finish.

Trouble would strike again for the Port Charlotte, Florida native as near the 25-lap mark, Williams reported the same issue again to his team forcing the teenager to duck off the 2.5-mile triangle and once again bring his blue oval to the attention of his team.

Quick but efficient work by the JWM team would return the Floridian to the racetrack but several laps down to the leaders. For the rest of the sprint, Williams gallantly fought to rise through the leaderboard and when the checkered flag waived, the team was left to swallow a disappointing 21st place finish.

“I swear – we have some of the worst luck,” Williams said. “We’re still not real sure what caused the fuel pressure issue. We’ll get the car unloaded back at the shop and dissect it in hopes of we can find the issue to make sure it never happens again. It’s a shame, because I felt we really had a pretty good racecar. Definitely worthy of a top-15 finish. This just has been the way our season has gone. Ups and downs. But, we’ll surge forward with our heads held high and look forward to getting back to some short track racing at Berlin Raceway.”

Before the start of the 14th race of the season, Williams was featured live on SPEED’s ARCA telecast as the Messina Rookie spotlight.

“That was pretty neat and when we found out about it on Friday, we were pretty pumped,” added Williams. “With no sponsorship, we can use any exposure we can get. I just wish we would have had a better finish to back-up the great things that Ray (Dunlap) said about our little team.”

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is the Berlin ARCA 200 presented by Hantz at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway on Saturday, August 11. Williams and his posse will make their inaugural debut at the .4-mile paved oval in the Great Lakes States.

After 14 races, JWM has competed in 13 of them and unofficially occupies a respectable 13th in the championship standings. This season, the team has amounted three top-10 finishes including a season best of ninth at Salem (Ind.) Speedway and 10th at the treacherous Winchester (Ind.) Speedway. An 11th place qualifying run at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June is the team’s best time trials effort to date thus far.

For more information on Josh Williams, his Josh Williams Motorsports team and sponsorship opportunities for the 2012 and 2013 seasons please connect to the team’s official website at Joshwracing.com.

Williams has joined the Twitter crave. Follow and connect with him @Josh02Williams.

FRANK KIMMEL POCONO RACE RECAP

Driver of the No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota Camry  

ARCA RACING SERIES * PENNSYLVANIA ARCA 125 * POCONO RACEWAY    

Long Pond, PA. (August 5th, 2012) – On the heels of his landmark 75th victory at Indianapolis, Frank Kimmel continued his streak of stout summer performances with a 4th place finish at Pocono Raceway. The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ second appearance at the Pennsylvania Triangle featured a different complexion, as the event’s distance of 50 laps put a premium on track position and pit strategy.

Kimmel and the Ansell/Menards team were able to parlay a 7th place qualifying effort to run in the top five for the majority of the race. With only 50 laps to work with, Kimmel made quick work of the competition to crack the top five on lap one. Before the first and only caution on lap 7, Kimmel was able to fine tune his line to the Goodyear rubber coated racetrack and improved his lap times, setting his sights on the top three.

Kimmel moved into the top three on the ensuing restart at lap 14. The nine-time series champion ran lap times as fast as the leaders on a consistent basis before crew chief, Jeriod Prince, employed a pit strategy cognizant of track position, attempting to place Kimmel in a position to race for the win at race’s end. Kimmel came to the attention of the Thorsport Racing crew on lap 26 for a four tires and an air pressure adjustment to alleviate his loose condition. After battling a tight racecar in Friday’s practice, Kimmel fought a free racecar during the race’s opening fuel run.

Kimmel rejoined the fray outside the top fifteen, but was the first of the lead cars to hit pit road. Kimmel moved into the Lucky Dog position at lap 34, and back inside the top ten by lap 39. Once the cycle of green flag stops had circled back to the initial race leaders, Chad Hackenbracht, in the #58, assumed the lead by way of early race fuel strategy with Kimmel solidly in fourth.  Throughout the entire race weekend, the tire troubles from the June race were a concern, and came to the forefront yet again on lap 34 when Kimmel radioed a vibration. Down the final ten laps, Kimmel held Chris Buescher at bay for the 4th place finish and his fourth consecutive top five finish. The finish keeps Kimmel third in the championship point standings, now 80 points behind the leader, Brennan Poole.

No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota  “”We blistered the right rear tire a little bit again, so that is probably what caused the vibration on the second run. On sticker tires, the car was really free, and the whole second run, we were really free. We ran as fast as we did all day the last few laps, and the car started the come around. We learned more this weekend and should be able to apply what we learned to this racecar for the future. It’s always nice to have solid top five runs and stay in the thick of the points battle.”

 Race Recap:

Date: August 4th, 2012

Track: Pocono Raceway

Race:14 of 20

Started: 7th

Finished: 4th

Driver Championship Points Standings: 3rd

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE:   Berlin Raceway is the next stop on the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards circuit on Saturday, August 11th. Berlin is one of the ARCA Racing Series’ most unique venues, challenging teams and drivers at all points on the .4 mile short track. The Berlin ARCA 200 presented by Hantz will mark the 1st of five consecutive races on tracks one mile or shorter. All on track activity will take place on Saturday, August 11th, with practice beginning at 2pm ET. Timing and scoring will be available on ARCAracing.com for Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Menards at 5pm ET and the 200 lap race at 8:30 pm ET.

2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

LONG POND, Pennsylvania (August 6, 2012) – – In his ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards return, Matt Merrell negotiated a respectable 12th place finish in this past Saturday’s Pennsylvania ARCA 125 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

Returning on the tour for the first time in over a year, Merrell looked to enhance his already impressive resume at the track dubbed as “The Tricky Triangle.” Unlike his previous experiences at the 2.5-mile triangle, the Portland, Texas native would have fewer laps to accomplish the feat, not to mention a newly repaved surface.

In the first practice session, Merrell in the No. 32 Toyota of Scranton / Red Line Oil Toyota Camry negotiated the 12th fastest lap reporting to the crew chief Mark Rette that his automobile was fighting a tight condition. Adjustments were made and gains were accomplished during the lone practice session on Friday afternoon – but following practice, the duo felt that they were heading in the right direction.

In qualifying, the 27-year old picked up nearly three tenths of a second from his best practice lap to land his Lakeville, Minnesota-based team 11th for the 14th race of the year.

Immediately following the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, the stars and cars of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards turned their attention towards their 50-lap stint which took the green flag shortly after 3:00 p.m.

Throughout the race, Merrell in his No. 32 Toyota of Scranton / Red Line Oil Toyota Camry flirted with the top-12. After starting 11th, Merrell hovered in that position through the race’s first and only caution which waived on lap seven when Michael Levine crashed in turn one. Riding in 11th, Merrell and Rette discussed the handling under the yellow which Merrell said that his car was tight throughout the racetrack.

When eventual winner Chad Hackenbracht pitted, Merrell rose from 11th to 10th but a good restart on lap 13 by the Texan allowed the No. 32 Toyota of Scranton / Red Line Oil Toyota Camry to stay tucked in with the lead group. While fighting to keep his place inside the top-10, Merrell made light contact with the wall on lap 15.

The driver reported to his crew that he did not believe that the car was hurt and the spotter confirmed Merrell’s intuition. Still battling a tight No. 32 Toyota of Scranton / Red Line Oil Toyota Camry, the former ARCA winner would have to keep plugging as the field continued to race under green flag conditions. With a mandatory pit stop having to be made by lap 40 to avoid a five lap penalty, the leaders started pitting on lap 27 with Rette electing to keep his driver out hoping for a caution.

With the field clean and green through lap 35, Rette instructed his driver to bring his Toyota to pit lane on lap 36 for initially two tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. At the last moment, the call was made to switch from two tires to four with Merrell set to go to the checkered flag.

Despite a gallant effort by the team, they found themselves a lap down to Hackenbracht who pitted under the caution and remained on track during the long-green flag run; Merrell found himself trying to track down the No. 43 of Kyle Martel in the closing laps.

In the end, Merrell would run out of laps and take the checkered flag in 12th in his fourth career start at Pocono Raceway.

“Everyone on the Win-Tron Racing team really worked their tails off,” Merrell commented. “We were just tight throughout much of the weekend and Mark (Rette) made some great calls to get the car better – we just didn’t have enough laps to have everything fall into place for us to get a top-10 run. I just want to thank Nate (Thiesse, co car-owner) for allowing me the opportunity to come back and race as well as the folks and customers of Toyota of Scranton and Red Line Oil for jumping on-board with us this weekend. I hope to be back in the series again soon.”

Thiesse reflected on the weekend by saying, “Obviously, we’re thankful for Matt for giving it his all throughout the weekend for us,” he said. “When you have a short race like we had at Pocono, you have to be nearly perfect when you unload off the hauler. We weren’t there but Mark and the guys made great strides to try and make that happen. That’s commendable. We’ll take the 12th and move onto Berlin and hope we can repeat our trip to Victory Lane.”

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards in their 60th anniversary season is a trip Berlin (Mich.) Raceway for the running of the Berlin ARCA 200 presented by Hantz on Saturday night, August 11. Win-Tron Racing is the defending champion of the race after Merrell bolted to his first career victory last July at the .4-mile oval. Wrestler now turned racecar driver Mason Mingus will return to the seat for the ninth time in 2012.

Further information including driver opportunities with Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.comor contacting Nate Thiesse at 612.306.1641

About Win-Tron Racing:

Located in Lakeville, Minnesota, Win-Tron Racing is the home of one the most potent ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards single-car operations. Owned by former racers Kevin Cywinski and Nate Thiesse, the team since has acquired the assets of County Joe Racing has become a favorable fixture on the circuit. Since Win-Tron Racing’s inception in 2007, the team has hosted a variety of drivers including leading drivers James Buescher, Blake Bjorklund, Justin Marks and Matt Merrell to their first career ARCA victories. In 2012, the team will begin its sixth year of competition with current drivers Chris Windom, Mason Mingus, Aleks Gregory and Merrell.