The Frontstretch: Lofton Finishes 16th in Superspeedway Debut posted by Kim DeHaven -- Monday October 6, 2008

November 17th - November 21st, 2008

Monday: In the wake of Jimmie Johnson's third straight title, Tom Bowles takes a look at how a different points system might have made things just a little more dramatic heading down to the wire at Homestead in Bowles-Eye View.

Tuesday: With the season over, did your favorites finish the season red hot -- or barely lukewarm? Mike Lovecchio breaks it all down in the final edition of Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup for 2008.

Wednesday: The Frontstretch staff looks back on the positives of the season finale at Homestead, along with the negatives of the dreaded Black Monday that went along with it in the latest edition of Mirror Driving.

Thursday: Editor's Note: This column has been postponed until Monday due to technical issues for Matt McLaughlin. NASCAR's testing ban for 2009 has race teams and fans up in arms. Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off and puts the ban under the microscope, dissecting the pros and cons of cutting costs in this way.

Friday: Jimmie Johnson has officially joined NASCAR's elite in the history books; but how will his chapter be written? Amy Henderson gives her take on Johnson's place in history in Holding a Pretty Wheel.

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Lofton Finishes 16th in Superspeedway Debut

Monday October 6, 2008

TALLADEGA, Ala. (October 6, 2008) – Eddie Sharp Racing’s Justin Lofton managed to narrowly skirt through Friday’s “Big One” at Talladega Superspeedway. Lofton consistently ran in the top-10 until damage received from contact with the nearly-airborne Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. limited the No. 20 Lofton Cattle Toyota to a 16th-place finish in the ARCA RE/MAX 250.

“Just another frustrating weekend,” said Lofton. “My guys put together a great speedway car for this weekend. Unfortunately when Ricky blew his right rear tire, we got hit by him as he spun. We had to come in several times to work on the fenders and lost a lot of track position. The guys worked fast and kept us on the lead lap to get the best finish we could after that.”

The No. 20 Lofton Cattle Toyota the fastest of the ESR entries in Thursday’s practice, sitting fourth with a fast lap of 50.636 seconds. Lofton qualified the Camry in the tenth position for his superspeedway debut.

On lap 11 the “Big One” occurred as the No. 25 of Brian Scott blew a right rear tire. Lofton reacted quickly and decisively, driving the No. 20 low on the track and narrowly missing contact with the wrecking cars. Lofton remained in the top-10 until the No. 99 of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. violently blew a right rear tire, spinning immediately in front of the No. 20 Toyota, damaging Lofton’s right front fender.

The Lofton Cattle team came to pit road on multiple occasions to work on the fender damage and wheel alignment. The handling of No. 20 Lofton Cattle Toyota went away completely and Lofton had his hands full for the remainder of the 94-lap event. One of 19 cars that finished on the lead lap as the dark was setting in quickly in Talladega, Alabama, Lofton took the checkered flag in the 16th position.

Next Stop: Lofton and his No. 20 Lofton Cattle team head to Toledo Speedway for Championship Weekend, the final event on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Schedule. The first practice for ARCA RE/MAX Series runs from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 11, 2008, with SIM Factory Pole Qualifying to follow at 3:30 p.m. On Sunday, October 12, 2008 pre-race ceremonies begin at 1:15 p.m. and the green flag for the Hantz Group 200 by Belle Tire and Federated Car Care drops at 2:00 p.m. The race will be broadcast LIVE on SPEED Channel. All times listed are EASTERN.

Catch all the action at arcaracing.com offering LIVE Timing & Scoring of all on-track activities as well as LIVE flag-to-flag streaming audio coverage of the race through the ARCA Racing Network exclusively on arcanation.com.

For more on Justin Lofton, please visit www.loftonracing.com.

For more on Eddie Sharp Racing, please log onto www.teamesr.com.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.