Factsheets
RACE: Prairie Meadows 200
TRACK: Iowa Speedway, .875-mile paved oval
WHEN: Saturday, July 11, 2009
LOCATION: Newton, Iowa
RACE DISTANCE: 200 laps (175 miles)
EVENT: Event #10 of the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series
SANCTION/WEBSITE: ARCA (ARCAracing.com)
TRACK PR/TICKETS: (641) 792-8722 (866) RUSTY-GO
SCHEDULE: Fri, July 10: ARCA RE/MAX Series Garage Opens 11:00 AM. Practice 4:30-6:00 PM.
Sat, July 11: Practice 1:30-2:00 PM; Menards Pole Qualifying 4:00 PM; Prairie Meadows 200 at 8:00 PM
POSTED AWARDS: $173,365
ARCA OFFICIAL COMPANIES: RE/MAX International Inc, Aaron's Sales & Leasing, Ansell, Featherlite Trailers, Hoosier Racing Tire, Lincoln Welders, Mallory Ignition, Menards, Racing Electronics, Sunoco Race Fuels.
ARCA OFFICIAL PRODUCTS: Amkus Rescue Systems, ARCA Nation, Bilstein Shocks, CGS Imaging, Cometic Gasket, Eibach Springs, Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Flowmaster, G-Force Racing Gear, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, Mo'sGold, Print Resources, University of Northwestern Ohio.
PARTICIPATING COMPANIES: BSR Products, Crane Cams, Ford Motor Company, Hutcherson-Pagan, Ilmor Engineering, Impact Racing, JE Pistons, Joyce Julius & Associates, Moroso, Performance Friction Brakes, RaceSafe Systems, Rhyne Racing Engines, Tesar Engineering, Toyota Racing Development.
INTERNET/RADIO: Live Timing & Scoring and Live Streaming Audio/Video on the ARCA Racing Network at ARCAracing.com.
RECORDS: Qualifying - Steve Wallace 22.932 seconds (137.357 mph) 2006. Race - Matt Hawkins 98.524 mph 2008.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
Iowa, Race #10
The Prairie Meadows 200 is the 10th of 21 events on the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series will be joining the ARCA RE/MAX Series event for a same-day double-header.
Penske Development Driver/Current Point Leader Parker Kligerman on the March
Parker Kligerman, a development driver for Penske Racing, is on a roll. The 18-year-old rookie sensation has won three of the last four races with wins at Toledo Speedway, Michigan Int'l Speedway and most recently at Mansfield Motorsports Park. In 11 career series starts, Kligerman has 10 top-10 finishes, most of which are top-fives. Kligerman had to forego the Iowa test in favor of testing a COT car for Penske Racing. Kligerman's lack of testing doesn't seem to matter much though as he's been a quick study no matter the venue. As a rookie in the series, Kligerman has not previously competed at a majority of the ARCA RE/MAX Series host racetracks. The same was true at Mansfield. Kligerman attended his high school graduation ceremony Friday night and hopped a plane for Mansfield afterwards. Kligerman, at a track he had never seen before, won the Mansfield race Saturday night. He recently explained his reasoning for succeeding in new environments in his high school speech class.
"This is all about expectations," said Kligerman. "I just gave a speech in my high school speech class about this. When I head into a race weekend I don't know anything about the track or the car so I really don't have any expectations about how I am going to do or how the weekend will turn out. That is how I have been able to do so well."
Still Tight Points Battle Headed to Iowa
Despite Justin Lofton's disappointing 30th place finish at Michigan, the Westmorland, California driver trails point leader Kligerman by just 55 points headed to Iowa. Outside of Michigan, Lofton, driver of the Eddie Sharp Racing Lofton Cattle Toyota, is off to a phenomenal start in 2009 with one win (Talladega), four runner-up finishes, a third and a fourth after the first 9 races.
Eddie Sharp Fields Four - Three are Rookies
Eddie Sharp Racing, who fielded cars for Scott Speed ('08) and Michael McDowell ('07), has four teams entered, three of which have rookies driving. Those rookies include Greenville, North Carolina's Craig Goess, New York, New York's Tim George, Jr. and Fort Frances, Ontario's Steve Arpin. Goess is 5th in championship points whereas Arpin and George are 7th and 10th respectively. The 4th seat in the ESR stable is occupied by veteran Justin Lofton.
More Rookies Rock at Iowa
Series veterans have their hands full this year up against a solid contingent of talented series rookies including Joey Coulter, who heads to Iowa on the strength of 3 top-5 finishes including a career-best 2nd place finish most recently at Mansfield. Coulter was also fastest in the Iowa open test. Rookie Dakoda Armstrong, who debuted with Ken Schrader Racing at Toledo, is also entered as a teammate to Kligerman, both of whom will be in Cunningham Motorsports-prepared Dodges for the race.
Iowa Entry List Full of Flavor
In addition to ARCA Icon/9-time series champion Frank Kimmel, who won at Iowa in 2007, the entry list is chalk-full of interesting entrants including Austin Dillon, son of Richard Childress Racing team owner Richard Childress, Chase Mattioli, grandson of Pocono Raceway patriarch's Dr. Joe & Rose Mattioli, NASCAR Camping World East veteran/winner Brian Ickler, Daytona winner James Buescher and second-generation ARCA driver Chad Finley whose father Jeff won at DuQuoin in 1999.
Clement/Carter Reunite for Iowa
Plus, 9-time ARCA RE/MAX Series car owner champion Larry Clement and veteran driver Matt Carter will be reuniting for the running of the Prairie Meadows 200. The event will mark the return of both to ARCA RE/MAX Series competition since the season-opening ARCA 200 at Daytona. Clement, who was instrumental in the creation of Iowa Speedway, was born and raised in Newton, Iowa, where the track resides. "I've been trying to put a package together for this race," said Clement. "This is my hometown, and the track is very important to me. Stine Seed came on board for the race, NuSouth Lemonade, the Pork Producers and Cookie's BBQ Sauce." Carter and Clement, in their first season together, finished third in championship points in 2008; however, sponsorship dollars dried up and the program came to halt. Carter has one ARCA RE/MAX Series victory at Toledo Speedway, and also won a Pro-Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway two years ago.
Fast Female at Iowa
From the female ranks, newcomer Johanna Long is entered in a Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet. Long, already this year, won two late model races in the Blizzard Series at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, where she is from. She was also 5th fastest among 17 drivers that tested at Iowa Speedway.
Track Information
Iowa Speedway
Iowa Speedway
iowaspeedway.com
Address: 3333 Rusty Wallace Drive, Newton, IA 50208
Length: .875 mile paved oval
President: Jerry Jauron
Chief Exectutive Officer: Stan Clement
VP/General Manager: Craig Armstrong
PR/Media: Mike Beecher
Telephone: (641) 792-8722
Tickets: (866) RUSTY-GO
First ARCA RE/MAX Series race: 2006
Total ARCA RE/MAX Series races run: 3
Qualifying Record: 137.357 mph, 22.932 seconds, Steve Wallace, 2006
Race Record: 98.524 mph, Matt Hawkins, 2008
# of races won from the pole: 1
Race Winners: Matt Hawkins 1, Frank Kimmel 1, Steve Wallace 1.
Pole Winners: Michael Annett 1, Steve Wallace 1.
Current 2-27-09
