Continuing to impress since returning to the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards tour last month, newcomer Justin Fontaine (@driverFontaine) heads to Iowa Speedway for Saturdays Fans with Benefits 150 seeking his first career top-10 finish.
Fontaine had a strong showing in his most recent race at Madison (Wisc.) International Speedway, but last lap contact from an impatient driver bounced the Asheville, N.C. native outside the top-10 after earning his career-best 10th place qualifying effort earlier in the day.
With the support of his AM Racing and their development team Win-Tron Racing, the former late model now treks back to Iowa Speedway, a unique 7/8-mile short track not only determined, but eager to show that his prior track experience will pay off in the anticipated Saturday night rumble.
“I’m really proud of my No. 33 ProMATIC team for the gains we’ve made over the last month said Fontaine. really starting to show some speed. We had the opportunity to really contend for a top-10 finish, but I feel we got called out on a controversial restart call.”
“Then, we were minding our matters and looking to end into the off-week with a good finish and kinda got robbed there on the last lap. All things in perspective though, Madison is in the past and I’m looking ahead to what on deck.”
Fontaine’s prior run at Iowa Speedway last year in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East car earned him a solid 14th place finish. Fontaine described that the more he turned laps around America Short Track, the more he enjoyed competing at the Newton short rack.
“Iowa Speedway is really a fun track,” said Fontaine. “With every lap I made, the more I got comfortable behind the wheel and it showed with my lap times and my eventual finish. I think the biggest change we’ll have to keep up with our No. 33 ProMATIC Toyota will be adjusting the car from the daytime of practice and qualifying to racing under the lights. ”
“Iowa can be a temperature sensitive track. Luckily for me, I found the balance I was looking for in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race and I think after talking to my crew chief Bill (Henderson), we have a good setup for where we need to be. ”
“I’d be really disappointed with anything less than a top-10 performance on Saturday night. ”
Currently 16th in the series standings (+4 positions from Madison), Fontaine has a career best finish of 11th twice at Elko (Minn.) Speedway and Madison (Wisc.) international Speedway respectively.
While sticking with a heavy ARCA schedule for now, Fontaine focus is expected to turn towards the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he compete in a limited schedule this summer in an AM Racing entry.
The Fans with Benefits 150 (132 laps / 150 miles) is the 10th of 20 races on the 2017 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Sat., July 8 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 11:30 a.m. 1:00 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying is set for later in the day at 3:15 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag later in the day shortly after 8:00 p.m. The event will be broadcasted live on MAVTV, while ARCARacing.com will stream live timing and scoring throughout the week activities. All times are local (CT).
AM/Win-Tron Racing PR
