Kansas City, KS. – Justin Lofton tallied his fourth straight top-10 run on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, continuing his strong start to the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season. Lofton started the SFP 250 from the third position, and after his No. 6 College Complete (http://www.collegecomplete.com, 877.543.2655) team adjusted on his Chevrolet throughout the day, crossed the finish line in the seventh position.
“I am so proud of these guys on this College Complete team. We battled with the truck a little bit out there. It was pretty aero tight. We made a few adjustments and it helped a little bit. For some reason I was off just a small amount on a few of those restarts, but we’ll take seventh. You know it’s a good day when you are upset about a top-10,” Lofton said.
Lofton began his visit in Kansas early, spending the day Thursday at Fort Riley Army base. The visit was Lofton’s third in as many years. This time, he brought along his entire No. 6 College Complete Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) team. On Saturday, Lofton was joined by two dozen soldiers from Fort Riley for the 167-lap race. Knowing that many of the soldiers who were on hand had just returned from a deployment overseas, Lofton was motivated to bring home a strong run for them.
Once the green flag waved at the 1.5-mile Kansas track, it took only two laps for the field to see a caution flag. On lap 37, the yellow was out again, allowing Lofton to make his first pit stop of the race. He pulled down pit road to the attention of his College Complete team for four tires, fuel, and a spring rubber adjustment. The No. 6 team pulled into the pits in fifth, and after a solid stop, rejoined the race in fifth.
As the race went on, the only complaint Lofton had was that his Chevrolet seemed to be riding a little rough on the right side, noting that the truck was battling an aero-tight condition.
With just under 100 laps left to run, Bormann called him down pit road for another pit stop. After pulling back on track however, the yellow flag waved, putting Lofton 13thfor the restart.
Less than six laps later, he had muscled his way back into the top-10. The California racer continued his charge until being called down pit road once they hit their fuel window 17 laps from the finish. Bormann opted for two tires only, sending Lofton back on track in 14th.
As the stops cycled through the field and the laps clicked down, Lofton wheeled his way into the seventh position. The result gave him his fourth straight top-10 finish. Just four races into the 2012 season, Lofton has already surpassed his top-10 count from 2011. He is currently third in the driver point standings, 11 points out of the top spot.
Lofton and his College Complete ESR team will observe a few off weeks in truck competition before returning to the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 18th.
Lofton however, will not be too far from a race vehicle, as he plans on running two off-road events in his No. 77 class 1500 General Tire / College Complete buggy.
To follow Lofton’s racing endeavors, whether it’s on asphalt or in the desert, follow him on Twitter @jlracing.
About Eddie Sharp Racing: Eddie Sharp Racing (TeamESR.com) is a 40,000 square foot championship winning race team based in Denver, NC. After just four short years of competition within the ARCA Racing Series, the team impressively accumulated upwards of 20 race wins. 2009 was a pivotal year for ESR, as they dominated the series with six race wins, 15 top-fives and 19 top-10s en route to the series championship with driver Justin Lofton. In 2010, ESR made the transition to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2011, owner Sharp and Lofton were reunited within truck competition. In 2012, ESR will expand to three teams, with Lofton set to return to the No. 6 CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet Silverado, Cale Gale set to join the team behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet Silverado, and Mike Skinner in the No. 8 Chevrolet Silverado.
About College Complete: Partnered with hundreds of educational institutions and across all types of education goals, including traditional college degrees, trade and vocational certifications, and professional licensure, College Complete helps students assess all of the information that exists in the public domain, allowing them to understand and make sense of their educational opportunities. Their services are free and available to anyone. Whether you are interested in Art and Design, Business, Computers and Technology, Criminal Justice, Education, Healthcare and Medical, Science and Engineering, and much, much more; if you’re an Electrician, a Nurse, an Automotive Mechanic, a Teacher, a Police Officer, or you’re simply interested in learning Computer Programming, Networking, Web Development, or Graphic Design College Complete is available for you at no cost. You can reach them by filling out a form on their site or calling to speak with your personal Education Advocate at 877-543-2655. College Complete has an initiative to assist those in the US Armed Forces and their families and is able to assist in identifying schools that will not only provide the educational requirements of the soldier, veteran or family member but will do so in a cost effective manner.
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