Last Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, Matt Lofton led the first 52 laps and three of the last four laps in the International Hall of Fame 250.
“It certainly helped getting the pole, due to the weather,” Lofton says. “I’ve really got to thank (team owner) Joe Coulter, for giving us every effort that he could there at the beginning of the year getting those points from the (2011 champion) 41. I just sat out front there and cruised at the beginning, and tried to lead as many laps as I could.”
However, on last lap, Lofton would be passed by Brandon McReynolds to finish second in the race.
“We had a great pit stop from the guys and great pit strategy,” he continues. “I moved there at the end of the race just a half-lap too soon. I’ll take a second-place finish here, that’s for sure.”
The second place run marked his first top 10 of 2012.
“We got a ton of experience,” he says. “We really needed this quality run here. We’ve had fast racecars, with the exception of Daytona. It shows all of our hard work with how we’ve come back from Daytona.”
For leading a total of 55 laps, Lofton and Coulter Motorsports were awarded the Aaron’s Lap Leader Award. His crew chief Jon Wolfe was awarded the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race while J.R. Norris was awarded the Klotz Engine Mechanic of the Race award.
Earlier this year at the previous two short tracks, he finished 16th and 14th. Despite that, Lofton is excited for Toledo Speedway and Elko Speedway as he feels Coulter Motorsports has a strong short track program.
“We feel really confident about our short track program,” he says. “We had a phenomenal race at Mobile and qualified really well and ran in the top-three. We feel really good about going to Toledo and taking the same car with us. I feel really good about our chances there.”
The race at Toledo Speedway is set to take place on Sunday May 20.
