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[/media-credit]CONCORD, N.C. – After 55 starts, 26-year-old Justin Lofton won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race, the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, on Friday night at the Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS). The win was the first for Lofton, his sponsor College Complete (http://www.collegecomplete.com, 877-543-2655), and his team, Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) within NASCAR competition.
Lofton hoists his first NCWTS trophy
“This is amazing. This day has been coming for so long. These guys right here work their butts off week in and week out. I want to thank them; I want to thank College Complete, Chevrolet, JoinAPS, SPEED Energy, my parents, Eddie Sharp. This is just amazing,” an elated Lofton said from victory lane.
Lofton was a clear contender early in the day after posting the second fastest time in final practice and qualifying second for the 200-mile race. Once the green flag waved however, Lofton lost a few positions while getting up to speed.
Two caution flags waved within the first 13 laps, and after losing track position at the start, Lofton and crew chief Dan Bormann decided to make an early trip to pit road for fuel. After the stop, he took the restart on lap 17 from the 24th position.
Within 10 laps, Lofton found himself on pit road yet again under a caution flag. This time, Bormann called for two tires and fuel. Lofton rejoined the race in 13th.Once he took the restart, Lofton was silent on the radio. As team owner and spotter Eddie Sharp called him around the 1.5-mile track, Lofton stayed focused on the task at hand. By lap 60, he had climbed his way back into the top-10.
As teams began their next cycle of pit stops while under green flag conditions, Lofton stayed on track. Bormann was confident that under the previous pit stop, his crew had plugged enough fuel into the No.6 College Complete Chevrolet to not rush into the pit cycle. As luck would have it, they were able to stay on track until a caution flag waved on lap 72, allowing them to pit under yellow. After stopping on pit road for four tires and fuel, Lofton was scored in the second spot for the restart on lap 75.
With 50 laps remaining, the yellow was displayed yet again. As other leads opted to head down pit road for their final stops, Lofton stayed on track. Crew chief Bormann had planned to call Lofton down for another stop, but radio traffic prevented him from relaying the message to his driver. Team engineer Eddie Troconis quickly hit his notes and began recalculating the fuel mileage, taking caution laps into consideration.
The missed pit call moved the 6 truck to the top of the leaderboard for the restart. Lofton held the position until lap 119 when Brad Keselowski took the spot from the California native.
Two laps later, the yellow flew yet again. While under caution laps, Lofton radioed to Bormann and his crew that he felt like his Chevrolet was “losing the nose.” Bormann reminded him to do what he could and to save as much fuel as possible.
The restart came with 10 laps to go. Lofton took the green from the outside lane. As Keselowski led the field up to speed, Lofton was able to take advantage of a dicey melee in the bottom lane, allowing him to reclaim the lead. As he drove by Keselowski, the caution waved for the eighth and final time for debris.
The final restart fell on lap 129, leaving five laps left to run. Once the green flag was displayed, Lofton pulled away, and drove the No. 6 College Complete Chevrolet to the finish to claim his first career checkered flag.
Lofton gets the checkered flag from the flag stand
“For two restarts I broke out to a lead and as the run went on, I started losing front end grip. Brad got underneath me and I thought, ‘Man, I really think this race is over. We might be finishing second,'” Lofton said. “I had terrible restarts all night. The truck was not that bad at the start of the race, I just had that bad of a start and fell back.”
Despite his early struggles on restarts, the third year Truck Series driver got it figured out when it mattered most.
“The stars aligned, I figured out what I needed to do, and the best thing is, I outsmarted them. Once I got out front, I knew I was okay.”
Lofton now holds one win, three top-fives, and five top-10s after the first five races of the season. The win boosted him to the NCWTS point lead for the first time in his career, by one point over Timothy Peters.
The next race for Lofton and his College Complete team is June 1 at Dover International Speedway. Lofton has a best finish of third at the one-mile track, tallied during his rookie season in 2010.
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.
About JoinAPS: Advanced Payment Services’ [APS] is a Long Island based company in New York and a registered ISO/AGENT of HSBC Bank USA, National Association, Buffalo, NY that provides Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover merchant services. With national merchant accounts, APS has developed into the premier Independent Sales Organization (ISO). With industry professionals who have 70 + years experience, APS provides superior service to all our clients; agents and merchants. David Marmurek began selling credit card services in 1993 and established APS in 2000. When 2003 began he re-invested in acquiring key management team members along with investments in technology to service our clients. The result, large and small ISO/MSP’s have joined APS. Large national merchants have signed on with APS to provide them with merchant services because of our superior service. Such national merchant accounts as Dominos, Dippin Dots, KFC, and ACE are part of the APS portfolio of satisfied clients.
About SPEED Energy: SPEED Energy is available in four flavors: Ethanol, Unleaded, Fuel and Octane, which provide the human machine with the fuel it needs to keep up with the SPEED of life. Each drink contains a potent blend of B-vitamins, caffeine, taurine and ginseng. SPEED, packaged in 16 ounce cans, is available in singles, 4 packs, and cases. SPEED Energy is available at major retailers, convenience stores, grocery stores, bars and nightclubs. For a retailer near you, please visit www.speedenergy.com.
About Barz Golf: Barz Golf specializes in golf products that will satisfy your need for speed. Barz Golf’s custom putters are designed for serious golfers and serious race fans. Our custom putters are great for the everyday golfer, from the occasional hacker to the Pro. Our custom race car putters are field-tested by GolfTest USA and received the Seal of Excellence. Visit BarzGolf.com for more information on customized putters.
