Long Pond, PA (August 2, 2009) – An untimely caution period mid-way through the Pennsylvania 200 prevented Alli Owens from contending for her second top-10 at Pocono Raceway. Owens had driven her ElectrifyingCareers.com Toyota as high as ninth-place before the inopportune yellow flag waved and trapped the Daytona Beach, FL. native one lap down for the remainder of the race. Owens took the checkers in 22nd-place.
Rain showers prevented the ARCA RE/MAX Series from qualifying and the starting grid was set according to owner point standings. As a result, the ElectrifyingCareers.com Toyota lined up 25th for the start of the race. When the green flag dropped, Owens performed her trademark dash through the field and picked up 13 positions on the first lap. Owens broke into the top-10 on lap 23 and raced into ninth-place on lap 30.
Crew chief Jerry Pitts called Owens into the pits on lap 39 to make a green flag pit stop. The crew changed the tires and topped off the fuel cell. The No. 19 car was “tight on exit in turns 1 and 3,” so the team made an air pressure adjustment to loosen up Owens’ machine. Following her service, Owens broke the mandatory pit road speed limit while exiting pit road and was ordered to make a “pass through” penalty.
On lap 40, the caution flag waved, which meant good news and bad news for the No. 19 team. Unfortunately, the leader of the race hadn’t made his pit stop before the caution flag waved and Owens was relegated one lap down. Luckily, the caution period allowed Owens to serve her penalty without losing another lap on pit lane.
The race resumed on lap 46 with Owens in 18th-place. On the ensuing green flag runs, Owens worked her way into 15th-place and was only two spots away from being in position to receive the “lucky dog” pass and return to the lead lap. Unfortunately, the left-front tire on the No. 19 car blew unexpectedly on lap 68 and ended any chance of Owens salvaging a top-10 finish. After making a trip down pit road for the crew to change her tires, Owens soldiered on for the remaining 12 laps to finish in 22nd-place.
“We had an awesome car today,” said Owens after the event. “I made it halfway to the front on the first green flag lap. It looked like we had a top-10 coming our way for sure, maybe even a top-five. We were riding in the top-10 when we made our first pit stop. Unfortunately the caution flag waved before all of the leaders cycled through. We were nearly in position for the ‘lucky dog’ pass and then our tire blew. I don’t know what caused it to happen. It just blew without warning. It’s a shame because the ElectrifyingCareers.com Toyota was really fast today. The chips just didn’t fall our way.”
Article By: Brookes Versaggi
Breaking Limits, Acct. Manager ElectrifyingCareers.com
Video clip of Alli racing at Pocono Raceway featured on Speed Channels Speedtv website:
http://www.speedtv.com/video/popup/?bcpid=1336737893&bclid=595226652&bctid=32460139001
