Robb Brent 21st At Rockingham; Secures Top-10 Points Finish |
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Topics: Robb Brent, American 200
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Chris Knight
Robb Brent Racing
October 11, 2009
ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina (October 11, 2009) - - While Shelby Township, Michigan native Robb Brent was hoping to maneuver his seventh top-10 finish of the year, an engine failure late in the ARCA RE/MAX American 200 halted those efforts. Despite the misfortune, the Justin Allgaier Motorsports (JAM) organization team was able to post a 21st place finish.
After a less than soothing performance at Rockingham Speedway in the spring, the JAM driver and team returned to “The Rock” hoping for some redemption and more importantly finesse a good enough effort to keep the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series championship team in the top-10 in the ARCA RE/MAX Series standings.
The weekend started off on the right foot as Brent blasted his No. 36 Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dodge Charger to the sixth fastest time in the short practice session Saturday afternoon. “Man, do we have a good car,” Brent said. “Dave (Leiner, crew chief) has really put a comfortable setup underneath our Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dodge, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
Goals were set high for Menards Pole by Ansell, but a mistake in turn one on his qualification lap posted a sour lap for the 22-year old competitor. “I messed up,” said Brent, who qualified 23rd. “I overdrove the corner and it really screwed up our lap. I hate it for our guys, but we’ll just regroup and focus for the race.”
From the start of the ARCA RE/MAX American 200, Brent steadily climbed through the field and had moved into the top-15, where he hovered for the first quarter of the event.
A pit stop approaching lap 75 allowed a chance to duck down to pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to tighten up the No. 36 Dodge Charger. The JAM team performed superbly on pit road gaining the road racing ace two positions.
Back to racing, Brent held steady in the top-15 which is where he remained for much of the second-half of the event until he notified Leiner that he thought he had a tire going down. The team acknowledged his concern and brought him to pit road under green flag conditions. As Brent was rolling down pit lane, the yellow flag waived in turn two which allowed Brent to bypass his stall and rejoin the field on the track and come in and change tires under caution. The timing proved to be costly as it wiped Brent from the lead lap but, as luck would have it the Aaron's Lucky Dog spot would be awarded to the Springfield, Illinois team and they could continue on in the lead lap.
Brent was ready to make another charge to the front but would be stalled once again when the red flag waived for a major incident on the backstretch. During that red flag, Brent’s race changed when water began pouring from underneath his machine. When the red flag was lifted, the remaining caution laps allowed the team to fill the radiator back up with water but it was pretty clear that a majority of the damage was done to the motor with Brent just hanging on and hoping.
While still holding solid inside the top-20 with a sour motor it appeared that Brent was going to be able to solider on for a top-20 run but inside the final four laps, the motor expired which took Brent to the garage and issued the team with a 21st place finish.
The team however did finish ahead of Tim George Jr., which secured Brent to his first top-10 championship point standings finish in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
“It was a disappointing end to the season but we made the best of the situation there at the end of the race,” said Brent, who claimed 10th in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship standings. “We had a pretty good car; we were just biding our time. We haven’t had a whole lot of luck with motors at Rockingham Speedway, so hopefully we can get that fixed for next year. Overall, I’m satisfied with our season and I think we made vast improvements in the second half that we can build on and look ahead to a stronger 2010 season. I appreciate the hard work of everyone on this race team and hope we can build on that success and have a stout season next year.”
Prior to joining Justin Allgaier Motorsports, Brent participated in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving for NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski and Brad Keselowski Racing. In his 37 ARCA starts, Brent has acquired three top-five finishes and 11 top-10 efforts. Brent notched his career best qualifying effort of second at Kentucky Speedway last year. He has led the ARCA RE/MAX Series pack twice for 21 laps in 2008. His best finish in the NCWTS occurred at Nashville Superspeedway in his inaugural truck debut where he finished 21st after qualifying 26th.
This season, Brent has one top-five and six top-10 finishes in 20 starts with a best finish of fourth at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September. A third place qualifying effort at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in September is the team’s season best thus far.
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is the 2009 Championship Awards Banquet set for Saturday, December 5, 2009 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Kentucky. The teams will then have to prepare for a three-day test at Daytona International Speedway from December 18-20 to prepare for the 2010 season opener in February.
For more on Robb Brent, sponsorship opportunities and official team merchandise, please visit the newly re-launched Robbbrentracing.com.
Be sure to cast your vote for Robb Brent as the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series most popular driver. Visit ARCANation.com and vote for Robb Brent today! Remember, if you are a member your vote counts twice compared to non-members whose clicks only equal one vote.
Driver Contact:
Carol Brent
P: 586.703.3737
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