Concord, North Carolina (June 6, 2016)
Going into the General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200, Matt Kurzejewski had very high hopes of continuing his previous success at Pocono Raceway in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards. After battling inside the top-10 throughout the 80 lap race, the Pennsylvania native brought home a 13th place finish due to competitors’ different fuel strategies.
Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell was cancelled due to weather on Friday morning, setting the field by combined practice speeds from Thursday’s practice sessions. Kurzejewski and his Ansell-Menards team started the #AnywhereIsPossible 200 from the 14th position.
“We were really hoping to qualifying. Our practice speeds weren’t an accurate reflection on the speed that our Ansell-Menards Toyota had,” stated Kurzejewski.
Despite sprinkles of rain in the area, the #AnywhereIsPossible 200 started on time and Kurzejewski found himself battling inside the top-10 by lap 5. The team used a caution at lap 24 to bring the No.52 down pit road for four fresh General Tires and Sunoco Race fuel.
The race went green for much of the remainder of the event, forcing the Ansell-Menards team to hit pit road for a green flag pit stop with fifteen laps remaining. This would relegate the team to a 13th place finish.
“We had a decent Ansell-Menards Toyota all day, the strategy didn’t work to our advantage, but all in all a great learning day for our team,” Kurzejewski continued. “The new composite bodies add different aerodynamic challenges to the cars and we made huge gains on that. We will chalk it up as a learning experience and head to Michigan.”
Next up for Matt Kurzejewski and the Ansell-Menards team is the Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway. A practice session on Thursday afternoon, June 9 from 1 - 1:55 p.m. get things going for this year’s Corrigan Oil 200, followed by final practice from 2:05 - 3 p.m. Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell is scheduled for 1:40 p.m. on Friday, June 10. Later that day, the Corrigan Oil 200 will start at 5:45 p.m. The Race will be LIVE on Fox Sports 1. |