Under brisk but crystal clear blue skies over a dozen ARCA RE/MAX Series (ARS) teams participated in the fifth open test session of the 2008 season preparing their automobiles for the ninth event on the 2008 ARS calendar, the Michigan ARCA 200 set to commence on Friday, June 13th shortly after 5:00 p.m..
The series returns to the facility for the 27th time since 1980 with ARCA driver and SunTrust Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Tom Hessert poised to make his inaugural debut at the two-mile oval next month.
Hessert currently locking fourth in the incredibly tight SunTrust Rookie-of-the-Year standings has never competed in the Irish Hills of Michigan but won’t have to turn far for guidance and support as crew chief Andy Belmont has turned an impressive amount of laps at MIS which should guide the likeable driver to another top-10 finish this season.
Entering Wednesday’s test, Hessert, in Jennifer Belmont owned Ford Fusions controls fourth in the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series championship standings just 85 markers from the lead. In seven races this season, Hessert has claimed three top-10 finishes including a very stout sixth place run in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway followed by top-10 performances at Rockingham Speedway and Toledo Speedway respectively.
Teams took to the track shortly after 9:00am local time with the complete day of testing scheduled to end at 5:00pm local time.
Here are some notes and quotes from today’s session:
TOM HESSERT, NO. 1 MAACO COLLISON REPAIR & AUTO PAINTING-BOUDREAUX’S BUTT PASTE FORD FUSION:
HESSERT: (ON MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY) “I’ve never experienced anything quite like this before. It seems like a very cool race track and it will be awfully fun to race on in a couple weeks. I’ve been told you can race four, five and sometimes even six wide here, it will definitely be an exciting show for the fans.”
HESSERT: (ON HIS GOALS FOR THE TEST) “I’m here to shake down our car and get experience on the track. You cannot expect to come to a track that you’ve never been before and run competitively on without any seat time. That’s what we are doing here today. I’m getting myself acquainted with Michigan International Speedway so we can come back and be running near the top.”
HESSERT: (DO YOU FEEL ANY NERVOUSNESS ABOUT COMPETING ON A TRACK YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO BEFORE?) “Yeah, maybe at first. But once you climb into that racecar and put those belts on the nerves go out the window and it’s time to do your job. Everyone at Andy Belmont Racing does their job to give me very good racecars and I try and give 150 percent every time I go out onto the track.”
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