Merne, MI (August 3, 2010) - ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards points leader Justin Marks carries high hopes into this weekend’s 200-lap short track shootout at Berlin Raceway after strong runs at all of the short tracks the series has traveled to this season. Marks, 29, will make his second career start at the .4-mile oval on Saturday night and is eager to get back behind the wheel of the same No. 32 chassis his Win-Tron Racing team prepared for him at Toledo and Mansfield earlier this season.

Since taking over the series points lead for the second time this season at Iowa Speedway just three races ago, Marks has logged two top-ten finishes and has positioned himself competitively among the championship competitors. Short track competition has been a challenge for Justin in the past, but a strong short track program at Win-Tron Racing and mentoring from owners Kevin Cywinski and Nate Thiesse have helped the driver improve his statistics.

“We’re bringing the same car to Berlin that we most recently raced at Mansfield, and handled extremely well for us,” Crew Chief Mike Chaffee weighed in on Berlin. “We’ve just had some unfortunate things happen to us both at Toledo and Mansfield, so we really haven’t had the finishes to show just how good this car really is.”

The last time Win-Tron and Marks visited a short track was just two races ago at the aforementioned Mansfield Motorsports Park, where the No. 32 had fast lap times throughout practice and the race but ended the night in 10th place after losing two right front tires. A similar scene took place at Toledo at the end of May, where Marks stayed well within the top five all afternoon before cutting a tire with just five laps remaining, relegating him to a 16th place finish. 

Win-Tron’s success at Berlin Raceway is less than short-handed; the team finished third in 2007 with driver James Buescher, and second last year with Matt Merrell behind the wheel of the very same car they’re bringing to the track this weekend. Heading into Berlin, Justin Marks holds a steady 30 point lead in the championship standings over second place driver Craig Goess (No. 81), and sits 70 tallies ahead of nine-time series champion Frank Kimmel (No. 44).

Coverage for this weekend’s events at Berlin can be found on ARCARacing.com through live timing and scoring, beginning at 2:30 pm EST for the ARCA Racing Series practice session. The BAS Radio Network will also carry live coverage of the 200 lap event, beginning at 8:00 pm EST, which you can also find on ARCARacing.com.


For more on Justin Marks, visit www.justinmarksracing.com
For more on Win-Tron, visit www.win-tronracing.com, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@WinTronRacing).

Justin Marks on Berlin Raceway
I’m really excited for the rest of the season, starting at Berlin. We have a really good short track program, obviously our road course program is good, I love the dirt tracks and Chicago and Kansas are really close to Texas, which is exciting because our car was really good at Texas. I’m looking forward to this weekend at Berlin because we were so good at Mansfield and the tracks are somewhat similar. I’ve never really run that great at the short tracks before in my career, and this year I’ve run a lot better than I have before.

Co-Owner Nate Thiesse on Berlin Raceway
Our team really worked hard last weekend at Pocono to get the car where we needed it to be, and it really paid off for us in the end. I think that kind of effort just shows the dedication we really have to this program and what we can accomplish when we’re given a challenge. The momentum we’ve had as of late will help us roll right into Berlin; another short track I feel we can run well at. It’s a tricky short track, but I think we have an excellent racecar and Justin has made great strides at the short tracks this season, so there’s no reason for us to not have yet another strong run this weekend.
 
Event Schedule at Berlin
Saturday, August 7, 2010 (All times Eastern)
                10:00 AM- ARCA Racing Series Garage Opens
                2:30-4:00 PM- ARCA Racing Series Practice
                5:00 PM- Menards Pole Qualifying Presented by Ansell (All Positions / 2 laps)
                6:15-6:45 PM- ARCA Racing Series Driver Autograph Session
                8:30 PM- Start of the Tim Richmond Memorial 200 (200 laps/100 miles)
 
Justin Marks, Win-Tron Racing Stats
-   Five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season
-   Marks won his first career ARCA Racing Series event in the second race of the year at Palm Beach Speedway
-   In 52 career starts, Marks has finished in the top 10 a total of 22 times and has two career pole positions
-   Marks has one career start at Berlin to his credit, finishing 11th in 2007 after starting 10th
-   Win-Tron Racing has completed all scheduled laps at Berlin in 2008 and 2009, finishing second last year with Matt Merrell handling the driving duties for the weekend.