Back in February, Craig Goess and the Eddie Sharp Racing #81 Greenville Toyota Camry team didn't get the chance to show the ARCA RE/MAX Series realm what they were made of.  An incident early on took Goess out of contention, forcing him to wait a few months for another shot at the top spot in restrictor-plate racing.

Friday, Goess and his team showed what they were made of by qualifying on the outside pole for the ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Talladega Superspeedway (AL), and it appeared he would have a good showing, but an early shuffling up front mixed with an ignition issue and later overheating after the front end of his car received damage, relegated the #81 machine to a 30th-place finish.

"We improved on that car," said Goess.  "That is the same car we took to Daytona.  When we tested at Talladega, we made some improvements on it body wise.  We were happy with the car in practice and in qualifying.  We expected it to race really well.

"Unfortunately teamwork as it was discussed didn't go according to plan, so we got put in a bad position early on.  Then the day just crumbled from that point on.  I think everyone did represent Eddie Sharp Racing and Greenville Toyota well.  We just didn't have the right chips fall our way."

Despite the issues during the race, Goess remained pumped about the early showing throughout the weekend as well as the progress his team has made.

"I am ready to go to Kentucky.  I am flying there tomorrow, and I am looking forward to getting in the car and running around that track.  Hopefully we can get a win.  We have the right people in place from the top down.  It is just a matter of time we will get it all together."

Goess and the Eddie Sharp Racing #81 Greenville Toyota Camry will be back in action in the ARCA RE/MAX Series event at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, May 9th.

Craig Goess Pumped After Strong Qualifying Effort at Talladega

Talladega Superspeedway Post-Race Report

Craig Goess at speed at Talladega Superspeedway (AL).  (David Vaughn Photo)