Win-Tron Racing Off To Solid 2010 Start

Topics:  Justin Marks, Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200

Chris Knight
Win-Tron Racing
February 11, 2010

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (February 11, 2010) - - Win-Tron Racing wasn’t able to defend their Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 title at Daytona but the Lakeville, Minnesota team was able to cast off their year with a solid 11th place finish with Justin Marks in the No. 32 Construct Corps Toyota Camry.

Marks, a veteran road course racer joined the veteran team led by crew chief Mike Chaffee gunning for his first ARCA Racing Series championship and win. Based on their performance – the goals remain solidly intact.

In the first practice session of the weekend, Marks posted the 24th fastest time but thanks to a few changes the team was able to rally off the 17th quickest lap heading into qualifying.

In qualifications, Marks posted the 15th fastest lap giving the team a solid outing for the first race of the 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards.

At the start of the event – Marks quickly dropped from his starting spot to the rear of the field under advisement from his team hoping to stay out of the “big one” which is almost a certainty in the ARCA races at Daytona.

Marks early on had a couple close calls but his skillful driving kept his black and green machine on the lead lap and his car intact.

Several cautions within the event’s first 30 laps kept the Win-Tron Racing pilot at bay and unable to mount a charge towards the front but that would change after the first and only routine of pit stops for the teams approaching the half-way mark.

From there, the game was one with Marks weaving his Toyota Camry forward and turning very solid lap times. Finding himself inside the top-12 with 15 laps remaining, Marks knew the “chess match” was on as he continued to slice and dice his machine through the lead pack which found themselves running two-wide for much of the event’s final laps.

Gallantly eyeing a top-10 run, Marks’s goal would come one position short as Steve Arpin was able to dice past the No. 32 coming to the line which forced Marks to settle for 11th.

The Rocklin, California native captured his best finish in three starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

“Obviously we had hoped for a better finish but we’ll take the run and hope for a better outcome at Talladega,” said Marks. “The Win-Tron Racing team gave me a good car. We had a strategy early on and it paid off. It just seemed like everyone was stalled there at the end. We’re a little frustrated but we don’t have all that much room to complain – because we finished the race and we can try again in April.”

Nate Thiesse, co-owner of Win-Tron Racing offered his thoughts on the season opener. “Justin drove a very smart race. He did a good job. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get to the lead pack at the end but we learned a lot and we can make up for it at Talladega. It’s a solid start to the season for sure, so we’re not really going to complain. We have 19 races left.”

On Monday, Marks was one of about 15 ARCA teams who participated in an open-test at Palm Beach International Raceway preparing for round two on the ARS schedule set for Saturday, February 27.

During the eight hour test, Marks and the Win-Tron Racing team posted unofficially the seventh fastest lap.

From 2005 to 2010, Justin Marks has competed in 42 ARCA Racing Series events presented by RE/MAX and Menards events collecting five top-five finishes and mounting 13 top-10 efforts. He has also collected two pole positions including a New Track Record (NTR) at Kansas Speedway in 2007. Marks career best finish is second which has occurred twice at The Milwaukee Mile (2007) and Chicagoland Speedway (2007). He has led the field for 136 laps in five races. He finished fifth in the ARCA Racing Series championship point standings in his lone season of full-time ARCA competition in 2007.

Further information including sponsorship opportunities with Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.com or contacting Nate Thiesse at 952.469.1839.

For more on Justin Marks please visit, JustinMarksRacing.com.

Be sure to get personal with Justin Marks by following him on Twitter at Twitter.com/justin_racing.