Adding insult to injury Casola was black flagged just before the green came out restarting the race and that cost him a lap as he had to make a quick trip to the pits to close the “roof flap” that had come open during the spin.
When all the action was over, and there was plenty of action on the one-half-mile, banked asphalt Salem oval, Casola managed to bring his A.Casola Farms Ford Fusion prepared by Andy Belmont Motorsports home in 15th spot, making for a good run that could have been a great one.
Casola, a former truck racer at Wall Township, NJ Speedway, started 16th in the 200 as a result of a strong qualifying effort.
And a strong effort, despite the late race problems, allowed the Holmdel,
NJ racer to hold on to his 14th place in the ARCA RE/MAX Series point
standings. In fact some of the racers that Casola is chasing to improve his
end of the season point position did not fare as well as he did and he was
able to gain some ground on them.
The team now heads to two days of practice at the very fast Talladega
Superspeedway where things can go wrong very quickly.
Dominick did have the opportunity to test a Belmont owned car at the track
in January and is very excited about the race coming up at the big track.
Casola and the A.Casola Farms Ford Fusion team will run in the ARCA RE/MAX
250 at the Talladega, Alabama Superspeedway on Friday, October 5th as part of
the huge NASCAR Nextel Cup weekend. The 2.66-mile high banked track is
considered by many to be the fastest and toughest of all the speedways that
the ARCA RE/MAX Series competes on.
“Andy Belmont will have a very good car with a new body in place for me at Talladega,” said Casola. “I am really excited about this race. It is one I have been looking forward to all season. You just never know what will happen at Talladega so we will have to really have our “A” game ready to go.”
A strong finish at Talladega Superspeedway could move Casola up a spot or
two in the point standings and he shoots for a top 12 finish in the final
standings.
Something else for Casola to think about is an impressive run at Talladega
Superspeedway could catch at the attention of a NASCAR owner and it certainly
helps to do well in a nationally televised event, it will be seen on SPEED
live, with sponsorship marketing efforts for the 2008 season.
The 2007 season closes out on Sunday, October 14th with the running of the
Hantz Group 200 by Belle Tire at the one-half-mile high banked Toledo, Ohio
Speedway.
Fans can keep tabs on Dominick at
www.dominickcasola.com.