We headed to the final race of the season with high hopes, ” said rookie racer Dominick Casola. “With the fantastic finish we had at Talladega Superspeedway (finishing third for a best career effort) we just felt we wanted to close out the season with a great race. ”
Unfortunately it was a “Murphy’s Law” type of day for the A. Casola Farms Ford Fusion team in the Hantz Group 200 presented by Belle Tire ARCA RE/MAX Series season finale at Toldeo, Ohio Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
“We struggled in practice, had carburetor problems in qualifying (qualifying in 31st spot with 35 cars taking the green) and we just seemed to have an overheating issue that had impact on the motor power along with handling problems that hampered us throughout the race, ” said the Holmdel, NJ racer. “Then I overdrove going into the first turn with about 135 laps complete and spun.
“I tried to keep going and created a lot of tire smoke doing a 360. I feel bad that Norm Benning got caught up in that and suffered some damage on his race car. ”
Casola did manage to keep running and finished 197 of the scheduled 200 laps. The race was slowed dramatically with 13 cautions totaling 72 laps.
“Overall we had a very good season but it was disappointing to struggle in the final race of the season. We just tried to stay out of the way of the front runners and get the best finish possible based on the circumstances. We had hoped to have a strong run at Toledo and be able to finish in the top 12 in the final point standings, ” said the former Wall Township, NJ Speedway truck racer. “We did get a 13th place finish in the points and we earned the Fast Track Award (based on qualifying and race finishes at a series of events) which really means a lot to me and all the Andy Belmont Motorsports team. Seeing that we did not get to run the season opener in Daytona Beach, Florida we did pretty well.
“The entire season was a great experience and I feel that I learned so much from Andy Belmont. It is going to be very helpful as I grow my career. ”
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