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[/media-credit]BROOKLYN, Michigan (June 13, 2012) – – Tom Hessert III has always been a fan of Michigan International Speedway (MIS) even if his results haven’t shown it. This weekend as the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards takes on the RainEater Wiper Blades 200, the Cherry Hill, New Jersey native is hoping to change that statistic and deliver his sixth top-10 finish of the year.
After finishing 11th last Saturday afternoon at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Hessert and his Ken Schrader Racing (KSR) team have literally gone back to the drawing board with the intent to put their No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Impala back in the lead hunt.
Bound to make his fifth career start at the two-mile oval on Friday afternoon, the 26-year old will look to better his best finish of 15th scored in 2010. And if his strong start to his 2012 season which has included seven starts, three top-fives, five top-10s and no finishes worse than 13th – Hessert’s chances of solidifying through that 15th place finish look very practical.
“I think you’re going to see a very intense race, especially, because 100 laps can go quick at Michigan,” said Hessert. “It’s important that we use practice to dial in our No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Impala to the best of our capabilities because Michigan does have the opportunity to run off into a long span of green flag racing and if it does – you want to be on the positive side. We weren’t exactly thrilled with our run last Saturday at Pocono, so we’ve made some big swings since then, so I hope it will pay off and we can not only put ourselves back in the top-five but make some gain some points in the championship standings.”
He added, “The same rule packages that we had at Pocono last weekend will apply to Michigan this weekend, so it won’t be surprising that you see new track records being made. Again, the tapered spacer could make it tough but it will be the same for all of us, so only time will tell. The one thing I think you will see is that the track will widen quicker than it did at Pocono and that will be provide good racing.”
Speaking of the championship standings, with 13 races remaining, Hessert secures fourth in the championship standings accumulating 1575 markers and just 10 points behind Chad Hackenbracht for third. Just 85 separate the ARCA veteran from the top spot held by Brennan Poole.
“You can see even with our finishes this year, there’s not much room for error and the points are incredibly tight,” Hessert explained. “Every position is important, every point is critical and we know that going into Michigan this weekend now more than ever.”
Entering Michigan, Hessert has 90 career ARCA Racing Series starts. In those outings, he has maneuvered two poles, one win, 22 top-fives and 48 top-10s.
The RainEater Wiper Blades 200 (100 laps / 200 miles) is the eighth of 20 events on the 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 31st ARCA race at Michigan International Speedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Thursday, June 14 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 4:05 p.m. – 5:35 p.m. Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell is set for race day, Friday, June 15 slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. The event will take the green shortly after 5:00 p.m. The race will be televised live on SPEED. Additional coverage including timing and scoring available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local (Eastern).
For more on Tom Hessert III, please visit tomhessert.com.
Hessert has joined the Twitter crave. Follow and connect with him @TomHessert.
