 LONG
POND, PA (June 9, 2012) -- Brennan Poole dominated the racing at newly repaved
Pocono Raceway leading an astounding 77 of 80 race laps en route to becoming
the ARCA Series first repeat winner of the season.
The Texas driver set a new track record in
qualifying of 51.857 seconds (173.554 mph) around the 2.5-mile tri-oval. The
time smashed the old mark set by Kyle Busch in 2003.
Kevin Swindell was second in qualifying with a
time of 52.094 seconds or 172.765 mph.
Pocono is one of three tracks on the ARCA Series
2012 schedule that are being repaved before this year's race.
The other two tracks are Michigan International
Speedway and Kansas Speedway.
The Michigan race is this Friday while the final
race of the year is at Kansas Speedway.
With the new racing surface, Hoosier tests a
wide variety of tire options prior the first event to make sure the proper
compound and construction are selected. Which, if all goes well, the new tire
combination is both competitive and safe to race on.
As mentioned earlier, the 34-car field was
dominated by the pole winner, Brennan Poole.
Poole led the first 17 laps before
giving way to Chris Buescher for three circuits.
Poole regained the lead on lap 21 and would lead
the final 60 laps to the finish.
Poole crossed the finish line 5.164 seconds
ahead of Chad Hackenbracht.
It was Poole's second consecutive win in the
series. Poole won last week at the .375 mile Elko Speedway and again Saturday
at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Alex Bowman finished in third place followed by
Matt Lofton and Chris Buescher in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Poole stated after his dominant performance,
"I can't tell you how happy I am. It's a great feeling to win
here."
Poole added, "It's a historic track and
being the first winner on the new paved asphalt is pretty awesome. I'm proud to
be a part of it."
The race had just three caution periods for a
total of 21 laps.
The drivers all used 6193 (left) and 6246
(right) tire combination for the 80-lap event.
Hoosier Racing Tire sent a larger contingent of
staff to monitor the new tire combination on the fresh racing surface.
Members of the Hoosier service team included
engineers, product managers and track service staff that included; Steve
Partridge, John Reynolds, Rick Tostevin, Doug Barnes, David Wroblewski, Chad
Wright, Fred Awald and Mike Haenes.
After seven events, Brennan Poole extends his
lead in the driver standings to 60 points over Chris Buescher.
Chad Hackenbracht, who finished in second at
Pocono, moves up to third place in the driver standings as the series heads to
its next event.
The ARCA Series will be back in action this
Friday, June15, at Michigan International Speedway for the RainEater Wiper
Blades 200.
The race will be shown live on SPEED beginning
at 5:00 PM (ET).
For more information about the race at Pocono
Raceway and the ARCA Series you can visit www.arcaracing.com.
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