Catchfence

TALLADEGA, AL. – It was a successful day for Justin Lofton and the No. 6 CollegeComplete.com Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) team on Saturday at the always challenging Talladega Superspeedway. Measuring 2.66-miles in length, the Alabama track is known to provide intense racing courtesy of the draft, and equal parts damaged race vehicles due to the tight racing. But with a solid game plan in place and the savvy know how at Talladega, Lofton and the Dan Bormann led team drove home to an 11th place finish in the Coca-Cola 250 powered by Fred’s.

“I feel like we could have finished even higher but you need to lock up with just one truck to really pick up enough momentum to move through the field. We just didn’t have enough time on that final restart to have it play out right,” Lofton said.

“Overall, it was a good day. We came out of here in one piece and that is always the first hurdle at these superspeedways.”

Lofton took the green flag from the 16th spot for the start of the 94 lap race. Thanks to the draft, he was within the top-10 after the first lap. Lofton, who claimed the ARCA Racing Series victory at Talladega in 2009, played on his past experience by opting to drop out of the lead pack of trucks and fall back in the field. By lap 5 as he wheeled his No. 6 CollegeComplete.com entry around the fast facility, he radioed to his crew that it was already “really dicey.” Later, he would add, “there are a lot of trucks in a little place.”

Throughout the race, Bormann continued to coach Lofton to maintain a safe distance from the lead draft. Six caution flags fell throughout the event with four of them being accidents. Knowing the risk of racing in the draft, Lofton stayed alert racing outside of the top-20.

Following a caution flag, with just over 20 laps to go, Bormann finally made the call for Lofton to pick a partner and begin his climb to the front.

Two more caution flags waved in the closing laps, with the final restart coming on lap 92 of the 94- lap race. Lofton took the final restart from the 13th spot. With just over five miles remaining in the race, Lofton picked up a few positions by maneuvering his way to just outside of the top-10 in 11th.

Next week Lofton and his No. 6 CollegeComplete.com ESR team will head to the paperclip shaped Martinsville Speedway short track.

- Justin Lofton Media Relations Press Release