Korbin Forrister’s Respectable Run Sidelined Late At Lucas Oil Raceway

Korbin Forrister’s Respectable Run Sidelined Late At Lucas Oil Raceway

Topics: Korbin Forrister, Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200

Korbin Forrister’s Respectable Run Sidelined Late At Lucas Oil Raceway

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Kimmel Racing
July 29, 2012

CLERMONT, Indiana (July 29, 2012) - - Korbin Forrister’s (@korbinforrister) headed into Friday night’s Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 by Federated Car Care at Lucas Oil Raceway with the goal and intentions of completing all 200 laps. However, his goal would be shattered just eight laps from the finish.

After adapting to the heavier stock-cars through a series of start-and-parks, Forrister would be handed the wheel of the No. 68 Tilted Kilt Ford Fusion to have a shot at enhancing his learning curve even more at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

With former ARCA champion crew chief and car owner Bill Kimmel calling the shots for the 19-year old, the duo would bond together to find a comfortable setup for the rookie.

Despite battling Mother Nature during the two practice sessions, Forrister was able to embrace critical track time to help become familiar with the track’s unique .686-mile oval. In happy hour, the final practice run before qualifying, Forrister mounted 27th overall in a very competitive field after turning a lap of 23.508 seconds at 105.054 miles per hour, three tenths of a second faster than their previous run earlier in the day.

In qualifying, a bobble by the driver of the No. 68 Tilted Kilt Ford Fusion forced a lap of 23.804 seconds transferring to a speed of 103.747 miles per hour. The lap was 30th quickest overall but the Cedartown, Georgia native lined up 29th for his inaugural run at the historic short track.

At the start of the 200-lap event, Forrister raced the racetrack – gunning for each position available. Hovering inside the top-25 for a majority of the first-half of the 200 lap event, Forrister’s tasks of finishing the race looked feasible.

It was evident that the driver’s comfort zone with the track during the second-half of the race, his lap times improved considerably and he began fighting for positions with his competition on the same circuit of his No. 68 Tilted Kilt Ford Fusion.

With the driver pleased with the overall handling of his automobile and running in the top-20 inside the race’s final 15 laps of the 13th race of the year – it appeared that the Limited Late Model (LLM) pro would emerge from the Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 by Federated Car Care unscathed. Unfortunately, with eight laps remaining and running with another lapped car, a hungry pack of lead laps cars closed in on them and contact was made in the group sending the No. 68 Tilted Kilt Ford Fusion around on the frontstretch and hard into the inside retaining wall. The damage would ultimately end the team’ night resulting in a 24th place run.

“I learned an awful lot,” offered Forrister. “I wish we would have had the opportunity to test, but this Kimmel Racing team gave me everything I asked for and more. I wish I could have become more comfortable with the higher groove earlier in the race – because the car was really fast once I figured the track out. Unfortunately, by then we were too far behind. I’m also real sorry to the guys for bringing our Tilted Kilt Ford home damaged. I was in a pack with the leaders and lapped cars and there was contact and I went spinning towards the wall. It’s just a shame, because I was just hoping to see the checkered flag and bring these guys home a respectable finish. I guess it was just one of those racing deals. I just want to thank Bill (Kimmel), Will (Kimmel), the guys and Tilted Kilt for making this opportunity possible.”

Kimmel offered his thoughts on his development driver’s performance at LOR. “Korbin definitely made some huge strides from practice to the race and we’re extremely proud of him for that,” he said. “It was a tough field, there’s no hiding that. This was just another opportunity for Korbin to acquire more seat time, learn more about these cars and earn respect from his competitors. The ending didn’t turn out like we wanted too, but sometimes that’s just it goes. He’ll be back at Springfield and we’ll hope for a strong showing there.”

In addition to Indianapolis, Forrister will drive for Kimmel Racing in upcoming events at the Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 19) and the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds (September 3).

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is a return trip to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for the running of the Pennsylvania ARCA 125 in a double-header combo with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at the 2.5-mile triangle. The 14th race of the year will air live on SPEED beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

For additional input on Kimmel Racing, please log on to kimmelracing.com.

Stay tuned for a newly re-launched website on Korbin Forrister at korbinforristerracing.com.

See the buzz for yourself on Tilted Kilt by clicking on TiltedKilt.com.

PHOTO CAPTION: Korbin Forrister, driver of the No. 68 Tilted Kilt Ford Fusion in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards for Kimmel Racing.

TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com