Kansas: Robb Brent race report

Strong Run Foiled For Robb Brent At Kansas Speedway

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (October 5, 2009) - - Without a doubt, Thursday's Kansas Lottery 150 was one of the strongest performances of the year for ARCA RE/MAX Series (ARS) driver Robb Brent but a mid-race incident at Kansas Speedway foiled the team's chance at victory in the next-to-last race of the 2009 season.

After marching to a fifth place finish at the Kansas City, Kansas track last year, Brent armed with his Dave Leiner based team returned to the mile-and-a-half oval looking for their seventh top-10 run of the year.

Things started off perfectly for the Justin Allgaier Motorsports (JAM) on Thursday with Brent taking full advantage of the delayed two-hour practice session to clock his No. 36 Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dodge Charger sixth on the overall rundown.

"We have a good car for the race," said Brent after practice. "I'm real happy. Our car is strong and I'm able to do pretty much anything I want with it and that has me feeling real good about the race."

Mother Nature soaked the "cookie cutter" track Wednesday night which forced ARCA officials to delay practice and subsequently cancel Menards pole by Ansell qualifications Thursday afternoon which lined the No. 36 team 11th on the starting grid based on the 2009 car owner points.

From the drop of the green flag, the Shelby, Township Michigan native wasted no time maneuvering his Mike Allgaier owned machine towards the front. A few quick cautions would halt the team's momentum but the team was holding solidly in the top-10 by the completion of the first quarter of the event.

Another caution approaching lap 40 allowed a chance for the team's to tackle pit road for a routine pit stop with the JAM bunch stepping up to the plate and hammering out a great stop with four news tires and fuel for their driver.

The pit stop put Brent into the top-five on the restart with all intentions of taking his Dodge into the lead but contact with a lapped car sent Brent's automobile hard into the outside wall.

The heavy contact forced Brent to bring his machine to pit road for damage control where the team deemed the damage too substantial to return to competition. If the team had repaired the damage to Brent's car, a ruptured oil tank stood in the way of the team bettering their 34th place finish.

"I'm literally lost for words," said Brent after the race. "We had a good car; one of the best I've had all year. I thought I had given the lap car plenty of room and the next thing I knew I was heading towards the wall. It was a violent hit for sure. I just hate this for the team, our sponsors and my fans. We were banking on a good run to help our confidence returning to Rockingham Speedway."

Despite the finish Thursday afternoon, Brent remains 10th in the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship standings entering the season finale at Rockingham Speedway on Sunday, October 11. 155 points keep Brent from moving into the ninth position held by Tom Hessert III.

Prior to joining Justin Allgaier Motorsports, Brent participated in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving for NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski and Brad Keselowski Racing. In his 35 ARCA starts, Brent has acquired three top-five finishes and 11 top-10 efforts. Brent notched his career best qualifying effort of second at Kentucky Speedway last year. He has led the ARCA RE/MAX Series pack twice for 21 laps in 2008. His best finish in the NCWTS occurred at Nashville Superspeedway in his inaugural truck debut where he finished 21st after qualifying 26th.

This season, Brent has one top-five and six top-10 finishes in 19 starts with a best finish of fourth at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September. A third place qualifying effort at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in September is the team's season best thus far.

-credit: rbr