TeamBlueOval
01-08-2011, 11:38 AM
Justin Lofton will move from Red Horse Racing to Germain Racing for the 2011 Camping World Truck Series season, giving Germain a four-truck stable with Todd Bodine, Max Papis, Brendan Gaughan and Lofton.
Lofton finished 12th in his rookie truck season last year.
“We all have totally different resources to draw from and so many different ideas,” Lofton said. “We can go to the track with practically the same four trucks coming out of the trailer, we can all find little different things and we can all work on different pieces of that setup to help us out come qualifying time and race time.”
During the 2010 season, the 24-year-old Lofton became friends with Bodine and began talking with the Germains about 2011, eventually striking a deal to become part of that stable, which won the drivers championship in 2006 and 2010 with Bodine.
"I'm really excited about having Justin as a teammate at Germain Racing as we've become friends over the last season,” Bodine said. “He's a real good kid and I think he's got real potential as a race-car driver.”
After a slow start where he had only one top-10 in the first 12 races in 2010, the 2009 ARCA Series champion had seven top-10 finishes and two 11th-place finishes in the final 13 races.
“It’s pretty tough to be the top guy on the totem pole to going into a series where not too many people know you and you don’t know too many people and you’re racing something completely different. … I learned a great deal,” Lofton said.
“I really learned how important drafting is and aerodynamics and getting your truck to handle behind other people and being able to keep up with the fast guys, how fast they run and how hard I need to run.”
A crew chief has yet to be named for the No. 77 truck. The team has two tests planned prior to the season-opening race week at Daytona in February.
“We’ve got to win a couple of races,” Lofton said. “It’s very rare I’ve gone a season without winning races, … so that was a disappointment last year and is something that would really highlight next year.
“[The goal is] being competitive every weekend and being able to run for top-fives and top-10s every weekend for a win and at the end of the year, being able to walk on stage and accept a top-five trophy for the year in [the] standings.”
~Scene Daily
Hope this isn't old news, this is the first I've heard of it.
Congrats to Justin ... he was really running well towards the end of the season in that 7 truck last year.
Lofton finished 12th in his rookie truck season last year.
“We all have totally different resources to draw from and so many different ideas,” Lofton said. “We can go to the track with practically the same four trucks coming out of the trailer, we can all find little different things and we can all work on different pieces of that setup to help us out come qualifying time and race time.”
During the 2010 season, the 24-year-old Lofton became friends with Bodine and began talking with the Germains about 2011, eventually striking a deal to become part of that stable, which won the drivers championship in 2006 and 2010 with Bodine.
"I'm really excited about having Justin as a teammate at Germain Racing as we've become friends over the last season,” Bodine said. “He's a real good kid and I think he's got real potential as a race-car driver.”
After a slow start where he had only one top-10 in the first 12 races in 2010, the 2009 ARCA Series champion had seven top-10 finishes and two 11th-place finishes in the final 13 races.
“It’s pretty tough to be the top guy on the totem pole to going into a series where not too many people know you and you don’t know too many people and you’re racing something completely different. … I learned a great deal,” Lofton said.
“I really learned how important drafting is and aerodynamics and getting your truck to handle behind other people and being able to keep up with the fast guys, how fast they run and how hard I need to run.”
A crew chief has yet to be named for the No. 77 truck. The team has two tests planned prior to the season-opening race week at Daytona in February.
“We’ve got to win a couple of races,” Lofton said. “It’s very rare I’ve gone a season without winning races, … so that was a disappointment last year and is something that would really highlight next year.
“[The goal is] being competitive every weekend and being able to run for top-fives and top-10s every weekend for a win and at the end of the year, being able to walk on stage and accept a top-five trophy for the year in [the] standings.”
~Scene Daily
Hope this isn't old news, this is the first I've heard of it.
Congrats to Justin ... he was really running well towards the end of the season in that 7 truck last year.