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NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series
LOFTON: And So It Begins
DRIVER DIARY: The 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck season is finally here…
Justin Lofton  | http://www.LoftonRacing.com  |  Posted February 23, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Justin Lofton is the driver of the No. 7 Toyota Tundra for Red Horse Racing in the Camping World Truck Series. He was also the 2009 ARCA Racing Series champion. (Photo: Red Horse Racing)
The last few months have been such a whirlwind for me, but I am very excited about everything that has happened. Last year was one of the best years I've had racing so far, and it showed after winning the ARCA Racing Series championship.

After the season we had together at Eddie Sharp Racing, I knew that the group of guys I had working with me was rare. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to bring the bulk of my crew with me to Red Horse Racing in the Camping World Truck Series. This season, I've set the goal pretty high and hope to equal what we did last season.

My crew chief Mark Rette has become one of my best friends and it makes working together that much easier. Our relationship on and off of the track is really good, and I feel like we have the best partnership out there. We hit it off right away last year, and after winning six races and the championship together, it really showed how important a good relationship is beyond communicating on the radio.

The off-season was full of planning after winning the championship in October. I was fortunate to have a lot of great teams interested in me, but I felt like Red Horse Racing and Toyota, who has been a big supporter of my career, was the best choice for me. Tom DeLoach has built a solid team at RHR and I'm confident in the trucks. Having a teammate like Timothy Peters was also part of my decision. Timothy had a good season last year and together, I'm sure we'll have a good year all around for Toyota and Red Horse.

To be able to have a team like Red Horse behind me, and be able to bring along Mark and some of my crew guys; truck chief Dan Bormann, Tyler Jones, and Jared Hewitt, it really meant a lot to me and it provided us with a really strong foundation to start the season.

We had a few months to get established and I spent a lot of time at the shop and I work out with the guys during the week. They worked really hard through the off season to get the trucks ready to go for Daytona. I couldn't wait to get back on track for my series debut.

With all of that going on, I tried my best to enjoy the off-season away from the racetrack. I really enjoy video production and everything that goes into it. My sister Brittany does too. She went to the Carolina School of Broadcasting in order to start her career and we established Weekend Warriors Productions, Inc.

Our friend Brett is the videographer and together, the three of us travel to racetracks across the country, telling the stories of grassroots racers that might not get the press that they deserve. Every two weeks, we debut a new show at WeekendWarriorsTV.com. We also help other racers get their names out there by making promotional videos and providing press release services.

I really love spending time behind the scenes and giving back to other racers. I know how hard it can be to get your name out there when you're just getting started.

We went to Daytona a week early to film races for the show at New Smyrna Speedway and Volusia Motor Speedway. We had a lot of fun there but I couldn't wait for my turn to get behind the wheel! I tested New Smyrna in January with my No. 7 Red Horse team and I really liked the way the truck handled.

Going into Daytona, I was confident of what we had and I knew the guys had prepared a great truck. I finished third at Daytona last year in ARCA but the trucks do handle a little different than an ARCA car. You can really feel the air at Daytona, and I took it easy in the draft during practice because I wanted to save the racing for the actual race on Friday night. We had a good qualifying spot in 19th and I knew I could line myself up and get to the front.

The rain delay was tough. We found some things to keep us busy but I just wanted to go racing! I went to the track early on Saturday to watch the Nationwide Series race to learn as much as I could about which lane might be moving the best and what areas of the track seemed to be trouble spots. There were a few issues in that race but I knew the truck field was full of guys that had a lot of experience and I wasn't really worried about our race too much.

Unfortunately, once our race started, it was pretty much the same thing. There was a wreck on the very first lap that got us. I felt really bad; like I should have avoided the wreck. But after watching the replay, there was nowhere for me to go. Trucks were all over the place and bouncing off of each other. My guys worked so hard to keep me in the race and they did not give up. I really can't thank Mark enough for keeping me motivated. The truck was really good even with the damage. I told my guys that I couldn't imagine where we might have finished had we not gotten caught up in that wreck. I'd like to think we would have challenged our teammate Timothy for the win.

Congratulations to those guys. Our whole Red Horse Racing team deserved that win after all of the hard work through the off-season. My guys turned the night around and we finished 18th. It's not what I wanted for my debut, but it made for a decent points day considering how the night started.

We have a few weeks off before heading to Atlanta. I'm already excited about that race. I love high-speed racetracks where you can run wide open. I'm going to take a little break, spend the next week back home in California, and celebrate my birthday with my family before heading back to Charlotte.

Justin Lofton is the driver of the No. 7 Toyota Tundra for Red Horse Racing in the Camping World Truck Series. Lofton earned the 2009 ARCA Racing Series champion courtesy six race wins, 15 top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes. He also led over 1,000 laps of competition. A California native, Lofton honed his racing skills on mountain bikes before turning to off-road machines. He then transitioned to stockcars, running late models in his home state before delving into the NASCAR Grand National West Series. He moved to ARCA in 2008 behind the wheel of a Toyota for Eddie Sharp Racing. After two years in ARCA, Lofton earned a total of seven race wins. Visit Justin’s web site at LoftonRacing.com and follow him on Twitter

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Justin Lofton

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