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Tom Hessert Perseveres Nicely At Iowa Speedway

Topics: Tom Hessert, Prairie Meadows 200

Tom Hessert Perseveres Nicely At Iowa Speedway

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Ken Schrader Racing
July 18, 2011

NEWTON, Iowa (July 18, 2011) - - Entering as the defending champion of the Prairie Meadows 200 at Iowa Speedway, Tom Hessert III had high hopes for the 11th race of the season. Though, if he wasn’t able to soar his No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Impala to victory lane, the Cherry Hill, New Jersey native was hoping he could leave the track knowing he gave all he could.

That testament couldn’t be farther than the truth.

Hessert driving for NASCAR legend Ken Schrader didn’t capture his second career ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards victory, but the 25-year old did however battle from an ill-handling race car to produce a gratifying top-10 finish.

Before the teams could shift their focus to the race, they had to endure two practice sessions and qualifying. On Friday afternoon, Hessert produced the 12th fastest time. Complaining of a tight condition on his No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Impala, crew chief John Monsam made several changes to the bowtie heading into the final practice session hoping to improve Hessert’s comfort. In happy hour, Hessert picked up the pace and delivered the eighth quickest lap, giving the team a sense that they were heading in the right direction.

Under extremely humid conditions, qualifying shot off on-time Saturday afternoon with Hessert posting a lap of 24.117 seconds at 130.613 miles per hour, just a tick faster than practice the day prior. Content with starting ninth in the Prairie Meadows 200, Hessert was finally able to turn his entire attention towards the race.

With a heat index topping out at 124 degrees outside the car and a sweltering 150 degrees plus inside the car, the stars and cars of the ARCA Racing Series took the green flag shortly after 4:00 p.m. Hessert’s attempt to gain position on the track would be stalled when the No. 63 spun in turn three on lap one.

When racing resumed, Hessert maintained his footing inside the top-10. Something that the former USARacing Pro Cup Series star wasn’t expecting was the handling of his No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Impala to do a complete 360 as his automobile went from battling a tight condition all weekend to now an evil loose condition.

Having to thread the needle with traffic and himself on the track, Hessert wouldn’t be able to enter pit road until lap 52 when the first series of pit stops occurred. Massive chassis changes in addition to four tires and fuel were on deck for the avid road racing ace.

Returning to the track in the eighth position racing resumed with Hessert trying to maneuver his way to the front.

Through the halfway point of the 200-lap race Hessert knew that his car was beginning to come around but he also would have to battle with the lead pack, not for the lead but in order to stay on the lead lap.

The second round of pit stops ensued on lap 112 with Hessert relinquishing his seventh place position in order for fresh rubber and fuel.

Hessert found himself battling back inside the top-10, restarting ninth and fighting for every spot and every point. Knowing that he didn’t have a race-contending car this weekend, the ARCA veteran was determined to still bring his KSR team a solid finish.

Throughout the final 50 laps of the event, Hessert’s car continued to change towards the better which resulted in quicker lap times and the opportunity for the No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Impala to climb in the running order.

In the final laps of the event, Hessert was able to pull away from ninth place finisher Sean Corr and tried to grab seventh from USAR star Clay Rogers but Hessert ran out of laps and took the checkered flag in the eighth position, racking up his eighth top-10 finish of the season.

“It was definitely hot out there and I’m not sure if that didn’t play havoc with our setup,” Hessert offered. “We worked on the No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Impala all race long and we were finally able to get it content where we could race hard with others and not worry about spinning out or anything like that. While, I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to defend our win, there’s still plenty of racing left in 2011 and I know that we’ll be able to find ourselves in the hunt.”

When asked about the scorching temperatures inside the race car, Hessert added, “It really was a mental game as far as conquering the heat. I had to tell myself that despite the discomfort that I could do this and I needed to do it for everyone at Federated Auto Parts, Cherry Hill Classic Cars and KSR. It wasn’t easy, but we made it through. Hopefully we won’t have to embrace anything like those conditions again this season.”

With his finish on Saturday afternoon, Hessert climbed to seventh in the championship standings sitting now just 100 markers behind sixth place competitor Chad McCumbee.

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is a welcomed trip back to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, formally known as O’Reilly Raceway Park (ORP) for the running of the Ansell Protective Gloves 200 set for Thursday, July 28th. The iconic short track event will be aired live on SPEED beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Hessert will make his inaugural ARCA debut at the Clermont, Indiana-based track but has plenty of experience there in the USAC division.

In addition to Federated Auto Parts, Cherry Hill Classic Cars served as an associate marketing partner for Hessert’s 75th career ARCA start. In those 75 outings, he has maneuvered one win, 14 top-fives and 38 top-10s.

For more on Tom Hessert III, please visit tomhessert.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management PHONE: 239.834.9797 EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com