 SALEM,
IN (April 13, 2008) -- Justin Allgaier fought off veteran Kenny Schrader to
capture the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway on Sunday.
Competitors and fans endured a three hour rain delay before the start of the
race. The event finally got under way, albeit under caution while the track
continued to dry, before going green on lap 16. Allgaier, the defending race
winner, took the lead from Schrader on lap 169 and led the final 36 laps en
route to his third career ARCA RE/MAX Series win. It was the first short track
race in the ARCA Series on Hoosier's new short track radial tires.
Thirty-eight cars were on hand for qualifying with Kenny Schrader posting
fast time of the day on the new radial tire. Schrader's time was 16.909 seconds
(118.162 mph). Despite the inclement conditions, the time was over three
quarters of a second faster than last year's pole using bias-ply tires.
Schrader was the only driver to break the 17-second barrier on the .555-mile
oval.
The race featured seven leaders among four different drivers. Drivers
leading during the event included; Kenny Schrader 1-15, 40-107, 152-168 (100
laps), Matt Carter 16-39, 108-143 (60 laps), Scott Speed 144-151 (8 laps) and
Justin Allgaier 169-204 (36 laps).
Allgaier won despite a late-race caution that extended the race an
additional four circuits. It set up an exciting green-white-checkered finish
with the cagey veteran Schrader who had to pit for new tires with 15 laps to
go.
Allgaier was able to defend the challenges of the NASCAR veteran to capture
the win by .261 seconds. Justin is the son of Mike and Dorothy Allgaier--owners
of Hoosier Tire Midwest.
Schrader finished in second place followed by Matt Carter, Frank Kimmel and
Scott Speed. The Formula 1 driver was making his first-ever short track stock
car start en route to finishing fifth.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished sixth followed by John Wes Townley, Brian
Silas, Terry Jones and Norm Benning to round out the top ten. Benning was the
first car one lap down.
With the win and his runner-up finish at Daytona to start the
season, Justin Allgaier takes over the series lead in the point standings with
455 markers, while Frank Kimmel moves into second place with 420 points.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series travels next to Iowa Speedway this
Saturday, April 19th.
The race will be broadcast LIVE on SPEED at 1:30 PM (ET).
For more information about the ARCA RE/MAX Series visit www.arcaracing.com.
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