Pretty in Pink: Hessert Wins Menards Pole Award
Pretty in Pink: Hessert Wins Menards Pole Award
Driving a pink No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet to commemorate National Breast Cancer Awareness Month at an event backed by his car sponsor, Hessert drove a qualifying lap of 16.08 seconds (111.94 mph) to edge soon-to-be ARCA champion Ty Dillon (No. 41 Bass Pro Shops/Hemelgarn Chevrolet) for the first starting position by 0.044 second.
Hessert had previously won one pole in ARCA competition, at the high-banked, 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in 2009. He said after his qualifying lap that winning the pole at Toledo, a half-mile oval, meant more to him.
"It's really cool for us to start up front here at Toledo," Hessert said. "It's the Federated Car Care 200, which is special for us since Federated's been our sponsor all year. It's a really good, solid car. It's a little more meaningful, as a driver, to get a pole at a place like Toledo. Talladega's a really cool race track, but the driver's more of an element here. I'm proud of it. It's exciting and the team brought us a great race car."
Hessert, who is currently seventh in points, earned 15 bonus points for qualifying first and is now just 65 points behind Tim George Jr. for sixth place.
Driving the car with pink trim is significant for Hessert, whose entire Ken Schrader Racing team is going pink to support Schrader's wife, Ann, in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Charlotte, N.C. on October 22 and 23. Ann Schrader will walk to honor two longtime friends, Lisa Meloni and Laura Jones, who lost their lives to cancer.
"We have a special pink paint scheme for Federated and breast cancer awareness this month, and the car looks awesome," he said. "It'll be a really cool deal to start up front tomorrow with our special paint scheme here at the race."
Dillon, who has already clinched the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards championship by entering and competing this weekend, will start second. The 19-year-old from Lewisville, N.C., will be the 29th driver in ARCA's 59-year history to be crowned champion of the ARCA Racing Series. He is the grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress. He won at Toledo in May.
Grant Enfinger (No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest/RaceTires.com Dodge) will start third in pursuit of his first ARCA Racing Series victory. Enfinger, who yesterday announced plans to race a partial schedule in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2012, finished with the fastest lap over two 45-minute practice sessions earlier on Saturday.
Chris Buescher (No. 17 Reliance Tool/David Ragan Ford Ford) qualified fourth, and he will aim for his third victory in his last four starts at Toledo. Buescher won both races last season. Chrissy Wallace (No. 22 Althoff Trucking/JEGS Performance Dodge) will start fifth in her first ARCA Racing Series event since 2008. She is the daughter of current NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Mike Wallace.
Brennan Poole, Jared Marks, Josh Williams, Chad Hackenbracht, and Chad McCumbee will fill out the first five rows. Nine-time Toledo Speedway winner and nine-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel will start 18th.
Sunday's Federated Car Care 200 at Toledo Speedway will close the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season, completing a schedule of 19 races over speedways, short tracks, dirt tracks, and a road course.
An on-track autograph session for all fans from noon to 1 p.m. will precede the 200-lap, 100-mile race, which will start at 2 p.m. The race will be the 70th for the ARCA Racing Series at its home track.
SPEED will air the race live, and ARCARacing.com will feature live audio coverage from D.C. Bash and Charles Krall to accompany a live timing and scoring feed.
Toledo Speedway is located at 5639 Benore Road in northeast Toledo, just off I-75 and Alexis Road. More information is available by calling (419) 727-1100, or by visiting ARCARacing.com.