ARCA: First Top-10 Finish Of The Season For Win-Tron Racing
May 13, 2008
ARCA Racing
SPARTA, Kentucky - Maybe the monkey is finally off their back. After a tough start to the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule, Win-Tron Racing secured their first top-10 finish of the season when Dominick Casola steered the No. 32 Dodge Charger to his fourth career top-10 finish in Saturday’s Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 at Kentucky Speedway.
In a new slick looking No. 32 Dodge Charger, Casola entered the weekend looking to start off on the right foot. A lone practice session Saturday morning allowed the Holmdel, New Jersey native to get reacquainted with the 1.5-mile speed plant.
In practice, Casola nailed the 20th fastest lap after mounting a time of 31.235 seconds at 172.883 mph. “Our Dodge is decent. I’m happy to be here in Kentucky. The Win-Tron Racing team worked hard during practice to make our car faster. We need to do a little tweaking and see if we can get the car handling better. I have a good feeling about the race. I hope I am right.”
In ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying, Casola mastered his Kevin Cywinski-owned Dodge around the Sparta, Kentucky facility in a quick time of 31.233 seconds at 172.894 mph, a nearly identical lap to Casola’s practice effort.
The time trials run would land the former USAR Hooter’s Pro Cup star 17th on the starting grid. “We’ll take that,” Casola offered. “It’s not up front, but it’s not exactly deep in the pack either. I’m optimistic about the race. It has the tendency to be a quick race, I just want to finish and finish strong.”
At the start of the Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150, Casola showed patience by keeping his No. 32 entry strong in the top-20.
By the first caution on lap five, Casola had locked the 18th position advising Crew Chief Mike Chaffee that the car was tight. Chaffee acknowledged his driver’s request with a chassis adjustment coming during the team’s first trip to pit road.
On the restart, Casola held his line and position. Keeping some stiff competition at bay, Casola would continue to hold the 18th position when the second caution flag of the night waived on lap 12.
Resuming green flag conditions, Casola maintained a solid position in the top-20 with the first opportunity to bring his automobile to pit lane on lap 29 after the yellow flag waived for an incident on the track.
Chaffee called for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment hoping to correct the ill-handling machine for their young development driver.
On the restart, Casola wasted no time trying to find his niche back towards the front. Continuing to show patience, Casola picked up the pace and found himself back in the top-20 approaching lap 35.
