Mike Harmon couldn’t way to exit Toledo Speedway after a transmission failure took the likable veteran from competition in Sunday’s Hantz Group 200 by Federated Auto Care.
Harmon, who made his sixth start at the half-mile track was hoping to better his previous best finish of 13th coming back in 2005. Instead, he’ll have to wait until October when the series returns to Toledo Speedway for the ’07 ARCA season finale.
After turning in the 30th fastest time in practice, Harmon planned to step it up for ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying and he did just that. His lap of 17.357 seconds or 103.705 MPH locked Harmon 24th in the starting grid.
Knowing he had a comfortable setup for the race, Harmon was ready for the green flag.
35 cars took the green flag shortly after 12:00pm with Harmon quickly trying to bolt his No. 38 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS into the top-20. An incident occurred behind the Birmingport, Alabama native on lap one immediately throwing the field into caution status.
Once back to racing, Harmon attempted to move his way through the tight and competitive field but early signs started to show that transmission problems were occurring and by lap 22, Harmon was forced to roll his automobile behind the wall exiting the event early with a disappointing 35th place finish to boot.
“Toledo won again, ” said a dejected Harmon. “I don’t know what it is about this place, but we don’t get along. I really thought we were going to have a good weekend, but we again had some rotten luck. We need some luck right now, I’m praying for it. Hopefully things will look a little brighter for us when we head to Iowa next weekend. ”
Harmon added, “Maybe they save the best for last. Just maybe when we come back here in October for once, the track will give me a little break and we can end our season on a high note. That’s still a long ways away though. Right now, we’re concentrating race by race. ”
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is the return to Iowa Speedway. Before invading the track for the ninth race on the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule, the team will enjoy a weekend off before returning to action for three straight weeks of racing. The second annual Prairie Meadows 250 is set for Saturday, June 2, 2007 at 8:00 PM live on SPEED.
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