TALLADEGA, Alabama (April 18, 2011) – – New Philadelphia, Ohio native Chad Hackenbracht mounted a solid 17th place finishing position in the postponed 3 Amigos 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway Saturday morning putting his 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season back on track and more importantly — heading in the right direction.
Hackenbracht arrived at the 2.66-mile superspeedway with confidence after recently announcing the appointment of Rob Torrey as crew chief and 2010 ARCA Racing Series crew chief of the year Kevin Reed as director of competition.
Looking to find a solid platform for the CGH Motorsports team during the three hour practice session on Thursday, Hackenbracht produced the 29th fastest time overall, which would have been fast enough to lock Hackenbracht into the field on time should it have been qualifying.
“We’re okay, we’re missing a little speed but we’re combating that as best as we can,” the 19-year old Hackenbracht said. “Rob and Kevin are really trying hard to work on the performance of our CGH Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS.” In qualifying, Hackenbracht laid down the 27th fastest lap noting a career-best for the rookie team at the intimidating superspeedway. “We knew we would be in the show no matter what, but our goal was to try and find ourselves in a comfort zone,” Hackenbracht added. “I’m satisfied with 27th and just hope we can keep our nose clean and take the checkered flag.”
Torrey and Reed collectively agreed to skip drafting practice on Friday morning; just to play it safe and keep their automobile in one piece. With their thoughts and direction set towards the 3 Amigos 250, the team would be shifted from concentration mode to cover mode as wicked weather invaded forcing officials to delay round two of the season until Saturday morning.
With a new schedule in their hands, the team took the opportunity in stride to further develop their game plan for the 250-mile event.
Hackenbracht nestled himself inside the cockpit of his No. 58 CGH Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS just before 8:00 a.m. locally for his third career superspeedway start.
Throughout the race, Hackenbracht would hover comfortably in the top-25 waiting for ample opportunity to make his move towards the front. A late race caution would jumble up the field and allow the championship contender a shot at a top-10 finish with less than 10 circuits remaining.
On the restart, Hackenbracht would find himself tucked in the lead draft and digging deep for a top-10 finish but Hackenbracht would be shuffled out of the draft and have to settle for 17th, improving his starting position by 10 places.
The finish was the team’s second best finish in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards in 10 prior races. Last year, Hackenbracht finished a respectable 13th at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
“I’m glad we were able to finish,” Hackenbracht said. “It’s a shame that we got hung out there near the end because we had a shot at a top-10. We’ll take this finish in stride though. I’m super proud of the CGH Motorsports team for their hard work on getting this car together and making the best of the situation during the race. Thankfully, restrictor plate racing is done and we can concentrate on real racing.”
Round three on the ARCA Racing Series schedule takes the teams to Salem (Ind.) Speedway for the running of the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200. Not only will the 2008 National Asphalt Legends champion make his Salem Speedway debut but he will also make his inaugural short trackappearance for his 12th career start. In preparation for the event, CGH Motorsports will test at the .5-mile paved oval this upcoming week. CGH Motorsports is actively seeking additional marketing partners for the full 2011 ARCA Racing Series schedule. Single, multi and full-season placements are available on the team’s No. 58 entries. Interested parties are urged to contact Jordan Dahl at 570.234.5449 or
