“It was sort of a weird track, ” was how Dominick Casola described the Berlin, Michigan Speedway where the ARCA RE/MAX Series was performing on Saturday night. “The corners are all different and the track surface has very little grip. ”
In fact Casola had a restrictor plate on the motor in the A. Casola Farms Ford Fusion owned by Andy Belmont Motorsports when it took to the track at Berlin.
The teenage racer qualified 20TH quickest out of the 34 cars that started in the Request Foods-GFS 200 (200 laps on the. 438 mile semi-banked asphalt oval) on Saturday night. Casola ran an 18.209 second clocking for an average speed of 86.595 mph.
Casola was able to get his Ford up to 4th in the field in the early laps but at the 114 lap marker the youthful driver, a graduate of weekly racing at Wall Township, NJ Speedway, got caught up in another driver’s overzealous efforts and was wrecked.
The time spent in the pits to make repairs (bungee cords and duct tape were a big help) plus the damaged race car slowed the pace considerably but believe it not he was still able to run laps as quick as some of the top runners.
“Andy Belmont and the crew gave me an awesome car, ” said Casola. “We had at least a top five car. It is a shame what happened. I think we would have been running with the leaders at the end if it had not been for the wreck. ”
Casola was credited with completing 193 laps and a 23rd place finish.
Dominick and the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be making their second and final appearance at Kentucky Speedway on Friday, July 13th for the WLWT Channel 5-150. Dominick is looking forward to a second appearance at Kentucky for the A. Casola Farms Ford Fusion owned by Andy Belmont Motorsports.
“We are looking forward to putting some of what we learned the last time at this great racing facility to work this time, ” said Casola. “I think we can have a great showing at Kentucky as long as we stay out of trouble. We need a little luck. ”
This event will be the 15th appearance for the ARCA racers at Kentucky since the track opened in 2000. There have been 24 different winners in the last 33 outings for the ARCA RE/MAX Series competitors.
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