[media-credit name=”ARCA Racing Network” align=”alignright” width=”360″]
[/media-credit]TOLEDO, Ohio (May 20, 2012) – – An uncharacteristically warm day at Toledo Speedway presented its challenges to many of the competitors in the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care, but New Philadelphia, Ohio native Chad Hackenbracht would not be denied a top-10 finish in the fifth race of the season.
After practice on Saturday, the team led by veteran crew chief Kevin Reed adjusted their No. 58 Tastee Apple Chevrolet Impala accordingly for Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell. Being the first machine to tackle Toledo Speedway for time trials, Hackenbracht laid down an impeccable lap but would fall to seventh overall, awarding the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team with their fifth straight top-10 start of the year.
The green flag waived shortly after 2:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon with the 20-year old hovering in the seventh position through the race’s first 50 laps. For a number of laps, Hackenbracht stalked the No. 12 of Jared Marks and finally made the move around the fellow Ohio native by lap 52 moving him into the sixth position.
By lap 75, Hackenbracht remained in the sixth spot, but 10 laps later had climbed into the top-five. Five laps later though, Hackenbracht relinquished the spot to Grant Enfinger on newer tires.
At the half-way point, the rising star sat sixth and remained there until the caution flag waived on lap 111 allowing the opportunity for Reed to bring his protégé to pit lane for the first time of the day. A crowded pit lane saw the CGH Motorsports pilot exit behind Tom Hessert and restart the race in the 13th position.
By lap 128, Hackenbracht sliced his way back into the top-10 and passed the No. 52 of Hessert to move into the eighth spot. Four laps later, he moved passed the No. 15 of Ryan Reed for seventh where he idled through lap 150.
Five laps later, the No. 58 returned back to the top-five in fifth, where he stayed through lap 181 when Hessert bumped him back to sixth. Through the remaining 19 laps, an ill-handling automobile would work against the driver, losing two more positions respectively before taking the checkered flag in the eighth position, delivering the team their third top-10 effort of the season.
“We’ll take a top-10 finish, but the run wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for,” said Hackenbracht. “We just could not get our No. 58 Tastee Apple Chevrolet Impala to adapt to the track conditions. The weather was surely unusual and I think it affected a lot of the cars out there, ourselves included. We fought a greasy track and a tight and loose racecar all day, we were just trying to hang on for track position, I just couldn’t move forward. Still, the car is in one-piece and we can march on to Elko and look to put ourselves back in the top-five there.”
His 13th career top-10 occurred in his 33rd ARCA Racing Series race. In the race for the championship, Hackenbracht slipped to fourth overall but gained significant ground for the top-spot and now sits just 30 markers from first now in control by Tom Hessert. Entering Toledo, he sat 70 points out of the prime spot.
Next up on the tour is the sixth stop of the season at Elko (Minn.) Speedway, a new track for the series’ 60th anniversary tour. Hackenbracht however hails prior experience at the track in the Legends Car Series where he won the National Asphalt Championship in 2008. The Akona 200 presented by Federated Car Care is set for Saturday, June 2. The green flag is set to fly shortly after 8:00 p.m. in the one-day show with live radio coverage available through the ARCA Racing Network online at ARCARacing.com.
CGH Motorsports still has marketing partnerships available for the 2012 ARCA Racing Series season. Interested parties can contact Jordan Dahl atJordan@cghmotorsports.com or 570.234.5449.
For more information on Chad Hackenbracht and CGH Motorsports, please visit ChadHackenbracht.com and CGHMotorsports.com.
To purchase the popular “What’s A Chad Hacken-Something” tee-shirt, please log on to store.cghmotorsports.com or CGHMotorsports.com.
Connect with Chad Hackenbracht and CGH Motorsports through Facebook by clicking here.
Tweet with Chad Hackenbracht through Twitter at @ChadH58 or CGH Motorsports @CGH5858.
About CGH Motorsports:
CGH Motorsports (CGHMotorsports.com), established in 2007 by Ohio entrepreneur Greg Hackenbracht is located in a 10,000 sq. foot facility located in Mooresville, North Carolina. CGH Motorsports is home of rising sensation Chad Hackenbracht, who competed in nine ARCA Racing Series races in 2010 after an aggressive ARCA testing schedule in 2009. Chad Hackenbracht is the 2008 National Asphalt Legends champion, winning 33 percent of his races and finishing in the top-10, 85 percent of the events he competed in. The team has stepped up their commitment from a partial schedule in 2010 and ran a full-effort in 2011, and will attempt another full season of competition in 2012.
