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[/media-credit]Before moving up to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Joey Coulter made his mark in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, catching the eyes of NASCAR car owner Richard Childress. With the trucks having the weekend off, Coulter returns to ARCA routes this weekend.
Coulter proved in qualiying why he was picked by Childress for the No. 22 truck as he won the Menards Pole for the RainEater Wiper Blades 200, setting a new track record in the process. His lap of 37.471 seconds (192.149mh) broke the record set by Cale Gale, which was just under 190 mph. This marks his second career pole award after scoring his first pole at Berlin Raceway in 2010.
“It was a little hairy; I never took the throttle off the thing,” Coulter says. “It was a heck of a lap. I can’t thank everybody at Rip It and Coulter Motorsports enough for putting this car together. (Crew chief) Harold Holly’s calling the shots for this weekend, and I don’t know what he figures out for qualifying, but he can make a rocket ship. It’s a great feeling to me. My dad’s team, they’ve really been getting better and better. I think we’ve found a good combination and something that’s going to work. It’ll be great for (teammate) Matt (Lofton) the rest of the year.”
Coulter has been successful at Michigan in the past in the ARCA Series as in three previous starts, he has never finished outside of the top 10. Earlier in the week, Roger Curtis, the president of Michigan International Speedway, picked Coulter to win the race.
Points leader Brennan Poole will start second as he was 0.247 seconds behind Coulter. Alex Bowman starts third, followed by Venturini Motorsports’ teammates Ryan Reed and Kevin Swindell.
Coulter’s teammate Matt Lofton qualified sixth, followed by Kyle Larson, Frank Kimmel, Chris Buescher, and Jared Marks.
Tonight’s race will begin at 5 p.m., with SPEED airing live coverage and ARCARacing.com featuring live timing and scoring.
Starting Grid
| 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #8 | Â | Â | |||
| Michigan Int’l Speedway, Brooklyn Michigan, 6-15-12 | Â | Â | |||
| RainEater Wiper Blades 200 | |||||
| Official Starting Grid | |||||
| POS | NO | DRIVER/HOMETOWN | TEAM & CAR | TIME | SPEED |
| 1 | 61 | Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL | RipIt Energy Drink-Darrell Gwynn Foundtn Chevy | 37.471 | 192.149 |
| 2 | 25 | Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX | Venturini Motorsports Toyota | 37.718 | 190.890 |
| 3 | 22 | Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ | 13 abc/abc 12-St. Jude’s-eBay Motors Dodge | 37.911 | 189.919 |
| 4 | 15 | Ryan Reed/Bakersfield CA | JDRF Ford | 38.021 | 189.369 |
| 5 | 55 | Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN | Curb Records-Venturini Motorsports Toyota | 38.063 | 189.160 |
| 6 | 16 | Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC | Strutmasters.com Chevrolet | 38.123 | 188.862 |
| 7 | 6 | Kyle Larson/Elk Grove CA | ESR Chevrolet | 38.253 | 188.221 |
| 8 | 44 | Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN | Ansell-Menards Toyota | 38.413 | 187.437 |
| 9 | 17 | Chris Buescher/Prosper TX | Roulo Brothers Racing Ford | 38.480 | 187.110 |
| 10 | 12 | Jared Marks/Napoleon OH | Premium Energy VIP-SRT Motorsports-UNOH Dodge | 38.548 | 186.780 |
| 11 | 66 | John Blankenship/Williamson WV | Coal America’s Energy Toyota | 38.751 | 185.802 |
| 12 | 35 | Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela | Venezuela Tourism Chevrolet | 39.134 | 183.983 |
| 13 | 97 | Juan Carlos Blum/Guadalajara Mexico | VMP Nutrition Dodge | 39.212 | 183.617 |
| 14 | 52 | Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ | Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet | 39.213 | 183.613 |
| 15 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV | Allegiant Air Chevrolet | 39.329 | 183.071 |
| 16 | 68 | Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN | Clarksville Schwinn & Cyclery Ford | 39.483 | 182.357 |
| 17 | 92 | Brennan Newberry/Bakersfield CA | NTS Motorsports Chevrolet | 39.571 | 181.951 |
| 18 | 04 | Larry Barford Jr./Denton MD | First Mariner Bank-Trauma Doc Dodge | 39.764 | 181.068 |
| 19 | 32 | Aleks Gregory/Baton Rouge LA | Mosquito Patch Toyota | 39.869 | 180.591 |
| 20 | 99 | Brandon Davis/Huntington Beach CA | Roulo Brothers Racing Ford | 40.441 | 178.037 |
| 21 | 20 | Tom Berte/New Berlin WI | CGS Premier-StayTuned Customs Chevrolet | 40.805 | 176.449 |
| 22 | 10 | Rick Clifton/Circleville OH | BASF Chevrolet | 41.562 | 173.235 |
| 23 | 69 | Korbin Forrister/Cedartown GA | Tilted Kilt Ford | 42.023 | 171.335 |
| 24 | 02 | Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL | SW Florida Cable Construction Ford | 42.430 | 169.691 |
| 25 | 7 | Kent Schenkel/Huntington IN | Schenkel Racing Dodge | 42.793 | 168.252 |
| 26 | 06 | Tommy O’Leary/Cygnet OH | Wayne Peterson Racing Ford | 42.949 | 167.641 |
| 27 | 3 | Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI | ETS-Kelly Tire Chevrolet | 43.455 | 165.689 |
| 28 | 48 | James Hylton/Inman SC | Radon.com Ford | 44.064 | 163.399 |
| 29 | 0 | Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI | Wayne Peterson Racing Ford | 45.221 | 159.218 |
| 30 | 34 | Darrell Basham/Henryville IN | Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet | 45.607 | 157.871 |
| 31 | 58 | Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadelphia OH | Michigan Apples Chevrolet | Provisional | |
| 32 | 40 | Roger Carter/Sunfield MI | Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge | Provisional | |
| 33 | 88 | Buster Graham/Lafayette LA | Buffalo Wild Wings-Batter’s Dream Ford | Provisional | |
| 34 | 5 | Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA | Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet | Provisional | |
