Catchfence

KANSAS CITY, KS (10/1/10) – Joey Coulter, driver of the No. 16 Darrell Gwynn Foundation, Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards, wheeled his way to a hard fought eighth place finish in Thursday afternoon’s Kansas Lottery 150 at Kansas Speedway. With Thursday’s eighth place run, Coulter has amassed nine top-ten runs in 2010.

“I really have been trying to focus on consistent runs lately,” said Coulter. “Harold (Holly) has given me the tools and resources to stay up front, and these racecars are super fast. Coming into Kansas (Speedway) my goal was to run up front and stay out of trouble all night.”

Thursday (9/30/10) saw a jam-packed day of racing action, as ARCA scheduled practice, qualifying and the race all in the same day. During the sole practice session, Coulter recorded the sixth fastest time at 32.097 seconds with a speed of 168.240 MPH. Shortly after practice ended, Menards Pole Qualifying got underway, where Coulter went out second of the 36 cars present. He ran a fast lap time of 31.861 seconds at 169.380 MPH, earning him the fifth starting position for the evening’s main event.

ARCA waved the green flag to start the Kansas Lottery 150 shortly after 4:00 pm CT. Coulter kept his No. 16 Darrell Gwynn Foundation, Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet solidly inside the top-ten during the beginning of the race, as an extremely tight condition overcame the car. Coulter radioed to crew chief Harold Holly that the track “has gotten really greasy, and I can’t get the front wheels to turn.”

While continuing to battle the changing tack conditions, a lap down car ran into the side of Coulter while running seventh on lap 34. No immediate damage was reported, however Holly took no chances and brought the Miami Springs, FL native to pit road during the first caution on lap 44. The team gave Coulter four fresh Hoosier tires, Sunoco Fuel, along with a wedge, trackbar and air pressure adjustment. Coulter Motorsports tire specialist Steve “Corndog” Hazelbaker immediately found the left rear tire was cut from the damage and slowly leaking air. Coulter restarted the race in eighth position on lap 51.

When the second caution flag was displayed on lap 85 with Coulter in 11th, Holly, quickly surveying the situation, asked Coulter how his car was. Coulter radioed in that he “can’t roll the center and the car is tight. But the car is reacting great in the air.” Holly once again had Coulter come down pit road, giving him four tires and a wedge adjustment.

With the green being displayed for the final time on lap 93, Coulter restarted ninth. Holly’s changes immediately kicked in, however Coulter’s battle for eighth allowed the field to slip to a sizeable lead, and he crossed the finish line on lap 100 in his No. 16 Darrell Gwynn Foundation, Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet in eighth place.

“My entire Coulter Motorsports crew did a great job all day,” commented Coulter. “We had a strong practice and qualifying run, and I felt positive about the race. The damage I received in the run-in with the lap down car hurt us a lot more than we realized. Harold (Holly) made a great call during that second stop and I feel like we could have picked up a few more spots given some more time. I want to thank the Darrell Gwynn Foundation along with Rip It Energy Fuel for their continued support this year. It has been a great year, full of highs and lows, and I look forward to capping it all off at Rockingham (Speedway) next week.”

The ARCA Racing series speeds into historic Rockingham Speedway for the 2010 season finale, the American 200 presented by Black’s Tire and Auto Service, Saturday, October 9th. Tune into LIVE coverage on SPEED beginning at 1 pm ET.

- Coulter Motorsports Press Release