Catchfence

“Sixth-Place Finish Makes Him Only 20 Points Out of Championship”

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (September, 30, 2010) – With the 2010 ARCA Series title hanging in the balance, Tom Hessert proved why his No. 77 Cherry Hill Classic Cars team is in the thick of the championship chase in the Kansas Lottery 150 at Kansas Speedway. It could have been a disastrous day for Hessert and the Cunningham Motorsports crew; a stalled engine and a pit road penalty left them in the position to overcome adversity late in Thursday night’s 100-lap affair. Hessert and the team, however, showed their signature determination and made all of the right calls to finish the day with a sixth-place finish. The result has Hessert third in championship points only 20 points behind the leader with one race left.

Hessert started the race from 17th-place. It was obvious from the drop of the green that he was a force to reckon with. He picked up nine positions before a yellow flag waved on Lap 45 and slowed the action. Hessert’s Cherry Hill Classic Cars Dodge had been “aero tight” in traffic on the previous run, especially off Turns 3 and 4. The No. 77 crew called Hessert into the pits for routine service, along with a wedge adjustment to loosen up the car.

Everything had been going according to plan and Hessert was on pace for a solid top-five finish, but the No. 77 team was about to be thrown a curve ball. Upon entering his stall, the power plant of Hessert’s machine stalled without warning. The team pushed the car down pit lane, where it finally fired, but not before losing four positions.

As Hessert was exiting pit road, and in an attempt to make up lost time, he was flagged for speeding through the final segment. He was assessed a penalty and had to line up at the end of the longest line for the restart.

On Lap 52, the green flag waved with Hessert in 12th-place. With nowhere to go but up, Hessert did just that. He worked his way into 10th-place, often running lap times consistent with the top-three cars. Unfortunately, the field became so spread out that Hessert was unable to claim any additional positions, no matter how fast he was running.

The caution flag halted the pace on Lap 86 with Hessert in 10th-place. With only 14 laps left in the event, crew chief John Monsam decided that it was time to gamble.

“You’re running as fast as the top-three cars,” Monsam told his driver. “They were 15 seconds ahead of us because everyone was so spread out. Track position is the name of the game. The only place we’re going to catch the leaders is on pit road. Let’s make a two-tire stop”

Monsam called Hessert into the pits, where the crew changed the right-side tires and made another wedge adjustment to loosen up the car. The No. 77 car returned to the track in fifth-place for the final restart.

The race went back to green on Lap 94 with only six laps remaining. Despite most of the field having four fresh tires, only one competitor was able to pass Hessert before taking the checkered flag. He finished in sixth-place. The result marked his 15th top-10 of the 2010 season. Hessert is now focusing on the final event next Saturday at the Rockingham Speedway and winning the championship.

“It was a wild race,” Hessert said after the event. “Where do I start? First off, we had a pretty good car. It was fast, but it was too tight in traffic. It was hard to pass. I’d get behind someone and I’d lose the nose of our Cherry Hill Classic Cars Dodge.

“When we went into the pits for our first stop, the engine just died. I didn’t stall it out, so I think we had an electrical problem. My crew had to push me to get it to start and that cost us a ton of time. To make things worse, I misjudged the end of pit road. We were assessed a speeding penalty and that sent us to the end of the longest line. All of that put us behind the eight ball early.

“Our car wasn’t too bad on the next to last run, but the field got so spread out that it was hard to make up any more positions. Fortunately we had the last caution flag and my crew chief made the perfect call. Two tires was definitely the right choice. It ended up picking us up three positions, which is 15 valuable championship points. We’ll need all of them for the final race at Rockingham. This is one of the closest battles in ARCA history and it’s coming down to the wire. I’m really proud of my team for not giving up and making the most out of the circumstances. That’s what a championship caliber team does.”

- Breaking Limits Press Release