 ROCKINGHAM,
NC (April 19, 2009) -- Sean Caisse was in the right place at the right time in
the ARCA RE/MAX Carolina 200 at Rockingham Speedway on Sunday. Caisse
trailed Ken Schrader with less than three laps to go when Schrader ran out of
gas handing the lead to the 23-year-old driver. Caisse knew just what to do as
he sailed on to the win by nearly eight seconds over previous race winner
Patrick Sheltra. It was Caisse's first career win in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in
just his sixth series start. Schrader finished a disappointing 7th after dominating
the entire day leading 185 of 200 race laps.
For the second year in a row, the ARCA RE/MAX Series made a stop at the
historic 1-mile Rockingham oval. Big time racing returned to "The
Rock" last year when Joey Logano passed Ken Schrader with five laps to go
to capture the win in his first-ever ARCA RE/MAX Series start. Last year's race
was the longest of the season at 312 laps.
Forty cars took the green flag Sunday under threatening skies and despite a
few light sprinkles the race went the scheduled distance of 200 miles.
Ken Schrader won the pole for the race after posting a time of 24.698
seconds (145.761 mph) driving his own Ken Schrader Racing
Chevrolet.
Schrader dominated the racing all afternoon leading 185 laps. Three other
drivers took turns out front including Patrick Sheltra 13-20 (8 laps), Kyle
Martel 107-110 (4 laps) and Sean Caisse 198-200 (3 laps).
With the race winding down, fuel was becoming an issue as nearly the entire
last half of the race was run caution free. With about 40 laps remaining,
Schrader admitted he had started conserving fuel.
The decision proved to be too late for the veteran with the race going green
the rest of the way.
In the lead, Schrader was forced to the pits for a splash of gas before
returning to the field one lap down with just two laps to go.
With Schrader forced into the pits, Sean Caisse, who was strong all day,
took over the race lead. Caisse then piloted the Venturini Motorsports
Chevrolet first to the finish line to capture his first career ARCA Series
win.
Patrick Sheltra finished in second place 7.535 seconds behind the race
winner.
Matt Merrell finished in third place followed by Bryan Silas, Parker
Kligerman and Cragi Goess to round out the top six lead-lap finishers.
Ken Schrader finished in seventh place, one lap down, after leading 185
laps.
A disappointed, but gracious, Ken Schrader commented after the race,
"They were the best car for 200 laps and that's what matters."
Schrader added, "I didn't expect it to go without a yellow for that
long. I started conserving with about 40 laps to go but I guess it wasn't
enough.
Schrader concluded, "I am proud of the show the ARCA Series put on
today."
Actually, Mr. Schrader, ARCA Series fans are lucky to have a you to cheer
for as are up-and-coming drivers lucky to be able to compete for the win
against a driver of your caliber.
Patrick Sheltra and Parker Kligerman are tied for first place in the ARCA RE/MAX Series driver standings with
620 points followed by Justin Lofton (575), Frank Kimmel (545) and Craig Goess.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series is back in action this Friday, April 24, at Talladega
Superspeedway.
The race will be carried LIVE on SPEED at 5:00 PM ET.
For more information about the ARCA RE/MAX Series visit their website at www.arcaracing.com.
|
