Catchfence

NEWTON, IA (7/17/11) – Matt Lofton and his Coulter Motorsports team looked poised for a great finish in Saturday’s (7/16/11) Prairie Meadows 200 at Iowa Speedway, before a flat right front tire prematurely ended their day. Lofton, piloting the No. 16 Strutmasters.com Chevrolet Impala SS, saw a weekend of firsts, as he made his first ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards start at “America’s Place to Race,” and his first start with Coulter Motorsports as part of their Driver Development Program.

Roxboro, NC native Lofton entered the weekend’s festivities with a new team, and high expectations. Initial goals were immediately met, as Lofton spent time on top of the practice charts in both sessions on Thursday (7/15/11). Working closely with 2010 ARCA championship winning crew chief Jon Wolfe, Lofton finished the first practice session eighth with a fast time of 24.723 seconds at 127.412 MPH. In final practice, the duo focused solely on long race runs, as well as the ever-important mock qualifying run. Lofton would round out final practice in fifth, posting a fast time of 23.995 seconds at 131.277 MPH.

Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell, kicked off the hot and humid race day activities at Iowa on Saturday. Lofton, getting a late draw in the session, knew he would have to fight an extremely slick track. The concerns didn’t stop the 26-year-old racer, as he qualified fifth, with a fast time of23.805 seconds at 132.325 MPH.

ARCA Racing Series officials waved the green flag over the 39-car field to start the Prairie Meadows 200, late Saturday afternoon, and Lofton immediately went to work, tackling the greasy track conditions due to the extreme heat. Radioing to Wolfe on lap 22, Lofton said the car was “real free through the turns; the track is super slick.”

Without warning, on lap 49 as Lofton exited turn four, his right front tire blew, sending his No. 16 Strutmasters.com Chevrolet Impala SS into the outside retaining wall, while running seventh. His Coulter Motorsports crew immediately went to work, assessing the problem and fixing the heavy right side damage. Displaying their “never give up” attitude and led by Lofton’s urge to get back on track, the team fixed the tattered car and sent him back out on lap 80 in 31st, numerous laps down. Wolfe, erring on the side of caution, brought Lofton down pit road during the ensuing yellow flags, to check the car and to add aid in the handling with wedge and tow adjustments. He would continue to battle the ever-slickening track conditions and record high heat index (126), before being forced to the garage early, as EMT’s believed Lofton was suffering from severe carbon monoxide poisoning.

Lofton was treated at the infield care center for excessive levels of CO, before being released back to the Coulter Motorsports crew at the conclusion of the Prairie Meadows 200. He would finish the day 24th in his No. 16 Strutmasters.com Chevrolet Impala SS, 79 laps down.

“Today was a really unfortunate day for myself and all of Coulter Motorsports,” commented Lofton. “We had such a fast racecar all weekend long, and if we didn’t have that tire blow up, I know we would have had a great finish. I want to thank everyone at Coulter Motorsports for working so hard this weekend, and especially Strutmasters.com for sponsoring us at Iowa. I look forward to what the future holds and hope to be back racing soon.”

Coulter Motorsports returns to racing action in two weeks at the Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, IN. Joey Coulter will be piloting the infamous No. 16 with Rip It Energy Fuel on board for their fourth of five races this season. The Ansell Protective Gloves 200 will air LIVE on SPEED at 7:00 pm ET Thursday, July 28, 2011.

About Strutmasters

Strutmasters builds automotive struts and springs for cars and SUVs equipped with air suspension. They also provide both replacement air ride suspension parts, including air springs, air struts, compressors, air bag suspension and dryers, and conversion kits that, convert your car to high quality passive suspension systems. Air shocks, air springs, air struts and other air ride suspension parts wear out. Strutmasters give you the option of replacing them with top quality passive suspension parts engineered to fit your specific application. They have been designing and building suspension kits and conversions since 1999 when they produced their first Lincoln air suspension kit. Strutmasters also maintains a fleet of test cars that they try out new products on.

- Coulter Motorsports Press Release