LONG POND, Pa. — Justin Lofton held off Matt Merrell in a green-white-checkered finish to win the ARCA race at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.
“This is an awesome racetrack,” Lofton said. “I wanted to win at this track. There’s nothing like it in the world. I almost had it last June. We were able to pull it off and I’m real excited about that.”
Lofton’s win in the No. 6 Toyota shot him to the top of the points standings, where he holds a five-point lead over Parker Kligerman. Kligerman, who won on the triangle track in June, got turned into on the final laps and finished 21st.
“I’m just really excited to have the points lead in Pocono like I wanted to,” Lofton said.
Craig Goess, Steve Arpin and Frank Kimmel rounded out the top five.
Lofton is getting set to make his debut in the Nationwide Series in August at Michigan. He’ll also compete in NASCAR’s second-tier series at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Texas and the finale at Homestead.
Lofton led 65 laps of the race that was extended by two overall to 82, earning his third win of the season and fourth of his career.
“It was going to be who pushed their car the most,” he said.
Saturday at Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pa.
1. (1) Justin Lofton, Westmorland, Calif., Toyota, 82
2. (3) Matt Merrell, Portland, Texas, Dodge, 82
3. (6) Craig Goess, Greenville, N.C., Toyota, 82
4. (8) Steve Arpin, Fort Frances, Ont., Toyota, 82
5. (4) Frank Kimmel, Clarksville, Ind., Ford, 82
6. (28) Tom Hessert, Cherry Hill, N.J., Ford, 82
7. (14) Robb Brent, Shelby Township, Mich., Dodge, 82
8. (27) Justin Marks, Rocklin, Calif., Toyota, 82
9. (30) Bobby Gerhart, Lebanon, Pa., Chevrolet, 82
10. (37) Kyle Martel, Lebanon, Pa., Chevrolet, 82
11. (10) Patrick Sheltra, Indiantown, Fla., Dodge, 81
12. (5) Joey Coulter, Miami Springs, Fla., Chevrolet, 81
13. (7) Bryan Silas, Stuart, Fla., Ford, 81
14. (38) Sean Corr, Goshen, N.Y., Ford, 81
15. (22) Mikey Kile, Westlake, La., Chevrolet, 80
16. (12) Kory Rabenold, Slatington, Pa., Ford, 80
17. (36) John Ferrier, Middletown, N.Y., Ford, 80
18. (26) Gabi DiCarlo, Phoenix, Toyota, 80
19. (9) Tim George, Jr., New York, Toyota, 80
20. (15) Jeremy Petty, Smolan, Kan., Chevrolet, 80
21. (2) Parker Kligerman, Westport, Conn., Dodge, 80
22. (25) Alli Owens, Daytona Beach, Fla., Toyota, 79
23. (16) Darrell Basham, Henryville, Ind., Chevrolet, 78
24. (24) Jason Basham, Henryville, Ind., Chevrolet, 78
25. (17) Steve Fox, Hazleton, Pa., Chevrolet, 77
26. (20) Barry Fitzgerald, Sykesville, Md., Ford, 76
27. (34) Ed Pompa, Ballston, N.Y., Chevrolet, 76
28. (35) Brian Kaltreider, Reading, Pa., Ford, 62, engine
29. (11) Dakoda Armstrong, New Castle, Ind., Dodge, 47, accident
30. (33) Tom Berte, New Berlin, Wis., Chevrolet, 42, accident
31. (19) James Hylton, Inman, S.C., Ford, 25, suspension
32. (39) Chase Mattioli, Long Pond, Pa., Dodge, 23, engine
33. (21) Todd Antrican, Lebanon, Pa., Chevrolet, 22, handling
34. (32) Marc Easton, Lake Saranac, N.Y., Dodge, 17, vibration
35. (18) Brad Smith, Shelby Township, Mich., Ford, 16, overheating
36. (29) Dwight Laird, Toms River, N.J., Chevrolet, 16, oil leak
37. (31) Charlie Vest, Ocoee, Fla., Ford, 15, vibration
38. (23) Brett Butler, Lilburn, Ga., Ford, 9, accident
39. (40) Tony Palumbo, Frankfort, Ill., Ford, 9, accident
40. (13) Mike Holt, Snow Camp, N.C., Toyota, 2, vibration
41. (41) Chris Lafferty, Concord, N.C., Chevrolet, 0, accident.
Race Statistics
Time of race: 1 hour, 52 minutes, 17 seconds.
Margin of victory: .502 seconds.
Lap leaders: Lofton 1-29, Kligerman 30-36, Lofton 37, Arpin 38-41, Goess 42, Arpin 43-47, Lofton 48-82.
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