Toledo Speedway

(TOLEDO, Ohio - October 16, 2011) - The smoke cleared and a path opened, leaving Chris Buescher to drive to his third win in the last four ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards races and his third victory in two years at Toledo Speedway.

Buescher's victory in the Federated Car Care 200 sealed the ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year title for the Roulo Brothers Racing driver by two points over Ty Dillon, 440-438. Buescher also won at DuQuoin, Ill. and Salem, Ind., both in September.

"It's a wild ending to a big season finale for ARCA this year," Buescher said. "You know, it's been like that all year. There's been great racing everywhere we've gone and this is another showcase of that. I know this was a tough one to get in with this rain, but a lot of people stuck around and got to see a good race.

"We knew we had (the Rookie of the Year) award on a technicality, but the goal was to come here and get it straight out, and we did just that."

Even if Dillon had beaten Buescher in the rookie point standings, Buescher would have won the Rookie of the Year Award. The ARCA Rule Book states that a driver cannot be crowned the champion and the top rookie in the same year.

Buescher also won at Toledo Speedway in May and September last year, his first two of five career ARCA wins. The third triumph did not come so easy, with Mother Nature playing a key delaying role. Light rain over Toledo Speedway throughout the morning and early afternoon delayed the start of the Federated Car Care by two hours and 24 minutes.

Dillon finished second in the race to complete his rookie season and the 2011 ARCA Racing Series championship.

At 19, Dillon (No. 41 Bass Pro Shops/Hemelgarn Chevrolet) is the 29th champion and the youngest champion in the history of the ARCA Racing Series. The Richard Childress Racing driver is the first rookie champion since Andy Hillenburg won ARCA's top prize in 1995.

"I can't believe it," said Dillon, "the youngest champion in ARCA history. Somebody needs to pinch me or something. That just says how great this team is. I can't thank my grandpa, my dad, and everybody enough for the opportunity. This Chevrolet was fast. Bass Pro Shops and Johnny Morris came on board for the last race and we put on a good show for them.

One afternoon after seeing his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams compete in Charlotte, N.C., Richard Childress was at Toledo Speedway to watch his grandson win the ARCA championship.

"It's just unbelievable," Childress said. "I'm so happy for him and this whole racing team. To win the championship is just huge."

After leading 46 of the first 164 laps and losing the lead to Dillon, Buescher (No. 17 Reliance Tool/David Ragan Ford Ford) held second place until being passed on Lap 188 by Brennan Poole (No. 25 Engineered Components Chevrolet).

Poole put Dillon in his sights and closed the lead margin as the final 10 laps started to tick off, hoping to deny the eventual champion of his eighth victory of the year. Poole, who won at Salem, Ind. in his ARCA debut in May, drove equal with Dillon in the fourth turn on Lap 197 - making side-by-side contact - and passed him one lap later.

Poole held the lead through Lap 199, but Dillon bumped Poole out of the way on Lap 200, which would have been the race's final circuit if not for the caution flag thrown by ARCA Racing Series officials. Before the yellow flag flew, though, Buescher - who had been one second behind in the waning laps - drove past a stalled Dillon and Poole's turned car to take the lead.

Buescher held the lead until the green and white flags flew together on Lap 206. He then drove away to the win on a one-lap shootout, matching his final position in both races at Toledo last year.

Following a delay from the initial planned green flag time of 2:09 p.m., ARCA Racing Series officials displayed the green and yellow flags together at 4:32, starting the race under caution. Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell winner Tom Hessert (No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet) led to start the race. With the jet dryer called off the track just before 4:55, Hessert had led each of the first 40 laps. He would lead two more, until Dillon passed him from the second starting spot just after the Lap 43 green flag.

Dillon held a slim, 0.152-second advantage as he finished the first lap at speed, but contact between Frank Wilson and Ron Cox well behind him brought the race's second caution flag.

Dillon drove away at the Lap 49 restart, just ahead of Hessert, Grant Enfinger (No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest/RaceTires.com Dodge), Buescher, and Poole. Enfinger and Buescher had started third and fourth, respectively, and Poole had passed fifth starter Chrissy Wallace (No. 22 Dan Althoff Trucking/JEGS Dodge) from just outside her on the third row. The race was the third career ARCA start and first since 2008 for the daughter of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace.

Contact between Bobby Gerhart and Roby Bujdoso while the leaders finished Lap 51 brought out yet another caution flag, but a longer run surfaced after Dillon led the field through the Lap 56 restart.

Dillon led Hessert by 0.454 second the first time around, using a strong jump to his advantage. Hessert closed the gap over the next several laps, though, and took advantage when Dillon encountered Milka Duno when trying to lap her on Lap 62. Hessert and Enfinger drove to the right and around Dillon, and Buescher followed on the next lap for third. Hessert's lead stood at 0.164 second on Lap 64.

Enfinger made light contact with Brad Smith on the backstretch two laps later, allowing Buescher to pass him for second. Dillon also passed Enfinger to take third. Levi Youster spun on Lap 69, just as Hessert had extended his lead by several tenths of a second.

Hessert led the charge out of the Lap 73 restart, holding off a challenge from Buescher two laps later. Frank Kimmel (No. 44 Ansell/Menards Ford) then spun in Turn 3, making light contact with the wall to bring another caution. Hessert's lead continued through another caution for another Youster spin - this time after light contact from Tom O'Leary IV in Turn 2.

The Lap 94 restart saw a four-car pack break away, led by Hessert and including Buescher, Dillon, and Chad McCumbee (No. 1 ModSpace Ford). Poole and Chad Hackenbracht (No. 58 Tastee Apple Chevrolet) were just behind in fifth and sixth. Wallace ran seventh, three second behind the lead group.

Hessert and Buescher again reached Youster on Lap 98 and had to drive around him, allowing Dillon to close. Hessert led by 0.122 second at Lap 100, the race's scheduled halfway point.

His advantage would not last, though. Buescher found his way inside on Lap 106, moving into the lead in the third turn to take a 0.257-second lead. Dillon passed for second the next time around, giving the two leaders in the series standings the first two positions in the race - although in reverse order.

Buescher took a 1.296-second lead over Dillon out of the 110th lap, but that lead quickly grew when Duno and Drew Charlson situated themselves between Buescher and a trapped Dillon and Hessert. By Lap 113, Buescher's advantage had passed three seconds, and stayed that way until Charlson slapped the wall on Lap 118 to bring another caution and bunch up the field.

Buescher took a hard left onto pit road, ushering the other leaders with him and opening the lead to Clint King (No. 15 Warehouse Design Inc. Toyota). Kimmel ran second, ahead of Jared Marks (No. 8 Terry Henricks Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Dodge), Bujdoso, and Hackenbracht, who won the race off of pit road.

King led from the Lap 125 restart, but Buescher was charging after restarting sixth. He passed for third on Lap 131, tapped Kimmel for second on Lap 132, and looked inside King for first in the third turn the next time around. Dillon also caught up after restarting seventh, and found his way to third.

Buescher finally passed King on Lap 135, as did Dillon and Hessert on Lap 136. Bujdoso spun, though, on Lap 138, again compressing the field.

Buescher led off of the Lap 142 restart, and Dillon challenged him every lap. Dillon attempted to use the low groove in Turn 4, even appearing to fall off the race track several times to kick up sparks. A Tim George Jr. (No. 31 Applebee's/Potomac Family Dining Group Chevrolet) incident set off a Lap 149 restart, after which Buescher led again. Dillon followed, and Hessert ran in front of Poole. Hackenbracht was fifth and McCumbee sixth.

Poole passed Hessert for third on Lap 153, starting his advance in Turn 2 and completing it just before the start/finish line. An incident involving James Hylton (No. 48 Radon.com Ford), Kyle Fowler (No. 55 esd Toyota), and Kimmel brought another caution and inflicted significant damage on Fowler and Kimmel. The crash set up a Lap 162 restart, and Dillon was on a mission to pass Buescher and seal his championship campaign with a win.

He trailed by 0.094 second after Lap 162, and only by 0.004 two laps later. Dillon took the lead in the second turn of Lap 165, and again used the low line in Turn 4 to keep it. A Lap 168 incident between multiple cars set up another restart at Lap 177. Several of the same cars mixed again, yielding a Lap 184 restart as the sun finally appeared over Toledo Speedway's first and second turns at 6:10 p.m.

Dillon got a big start off the line, but Poole gained quickly. Poole drove his Venturini Motorsports car past Dillon at Lap 188, setting up the final charge to the checkered flag.

Behind Buescher and Dillon, McCumbee finished third, Hessert was fourth, and Enfinger ended the race fifth.

Ryan Wilson, King, Hackenbracht, Charles Evans Jr., and Marks finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The ARCA Racing Series will wrap up the 2011 season with the Championship Awards Banquet at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky., near Cincinnati, on Saturday, December 10.