Full Throttle

The ARCA RE/MAX Series returns to on-track competition following two off weekends with the Pocono 200 at Pocono Raceway this Saturday. The race marks the seventh of 21 events on the 2009 schedule and the Series’ 48th appearance to Pocono Raceway since 1983.

At present, 34 cars are entered for the race, which rolls off at 1 p.m. on Saturday and airs on SPEED at 4 p.m. Eastern. A live audio feed of all on-track activities will be available on arcaracing.com.

Five Different Race Winners in First Six Races of 2009
There have been five different race winners in the first six ARCA RE/MAX Series races of 2009, including James Buescher (Daytona, Kentucky), Patrick Sheltra (Salem), Sean Caisse (Rockingham), Justin Lofton (Talladega) and Parker Kligerman (Toledo). Buescher, the only driver with multiple wins this season, is splitting his race season up between ARCA RE/MAX Series competition for Win-Tron Racing and competition in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Pocono to Prom for Parker Kligerman
Parker Kligerman, who is competing on a fulltime basis this season as a Penske Development Driver for Cunningham Motorsports, will balance ARCA RE/MAX Series stock car racing and life as a high school senior this weekend with both the Pocono 200 at Pocono Raceway and Senior prom on the agenda for Saturday.

“Prom is the night of Pocono (June 6),” said Kligerman. “So it’s about 3 hours and 1 minute on MapQuest from Pocono Raceway to Prom. I think that I can make it because if I got there about 6 or 6:30 p.m., prom doesn’t start until 7:30 p.m. or so. It’s kind of a hectic schedule. I go to Staples High School. It’s the public school in my hometown of Westport, Connecticut. I have a lot of support from my principal.

The day that I walked into school Freshman year I said ‘You know I want to be a racecar driver and I’m going to have to travel a lot.’ I didn’t know exactly how far I was going to go but at the time I was racing open wheel cars on the West Coast. He said as long as you keep your grades up, it’s a cool endeavor, we like it. My parents said, ‘well it keeps you focused so we’ll support it as much as we can as long as you keep your grades up’.”

Kligerman earned his career first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory in the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway on Sunday, May 17. In addition to his Toledo win, Kligerman has three top-5 finishes and five top-10s in six ARCA RE/MAX Series starts this season.

Ageless James Hylton to make 700th start at Pocono
Hylton’s storied career includes starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (601), the ARCA RE/MAX Series (82), the NASCAR Grand National East Division (6), the NASCAR Nationwide Series (3), the USAC Stock Car Division (3), the NASCAR Grand American Division (3), and IMSA (1).

“Throughout my career, I’ve raced on every surface imaginable,” said Hylton. “In the sixties, we’d run a one-third mile dirt track one day and then turn around and run a high-banked paved oval the next.”

James Hylton made his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (formerly Grand National division) at the Old Dominion 400 at Manassas, VA on July 8, 1964. Hylton finished 19th in a 1964 Ford Galaxy and collected $100 for his efforts.

“Ned Jarrett let me drive a few races in 1964 in a Bondy Long car. At the road course in Bridgehampton, New York, I was only supposed to run a few laps, then bring the car into the garage. Ned knew how badly I wanted to race, so he put a lock on the gas cap to make sure I didn’t get excited and run the whole race!”