During practice at Iowa Speedway, Craig Goess and the Eddie Sharp Racing Team were certain they were going have a satisfying race day in the ARCA RE/MAX Series event. Running on 40 to 50-lap tires, Goess was still able to turn lap times comparable to the top-three fastest cars. Goess hoped the solid practice runs were the predecessor to a successful day as he moved on to qualifying, where he landed himself a 12th-place starting position. Unfortunately, the 200-lap race provided complications with the brakes and the transmission going awry, but he was able to nurse his car to a 12th-place finish.
“We were running sixth in the race for a while and then after the fifth lap we started having brake problems,” recalled Goess. “The brake pedal started vibrating a lot and it continually just kept getting worse - almost to where it was pulling the wheel out of my hands. I really had to hold the wheel straight or it would have just yanked out my hands it was vibrating so bad.”
Attempting to find a solution to one problem, Goess found himself in another unpleasant predicament during the half-way point of the race.
“That [the brakes] didn’t help matters, and then in the last half of the race, the transmission got stuck in fourth gear and we could not get it out,” added Goess. “We made a couple of pit stops, but we were worried if we got it back out [of gear], we wouldn’t be able to get it back in. So, needless to say, we were not in a good position to be in as far as restarts go. We would get the car up to speed at like three-quarters of a lap and we would start passing people, but then the caution would come out and we would have to do it all over again.”
Switching to a different car for his upcoming race, Goess feels confident that he can move forward from the unfortunate events at Iowa and make his way to the front of the field at Kentucky Speedway.
“I feel good about going in to Kentucky,” said Goess. “I’m really looking forward to getting in to the car that we tested at Kentucky. It’s really comfortable for me and I like the way it drove – it’s probably one of the best-driving cars I’ve had so far this year. I’m just looking forward to getting out there.”
Goess will attempt to place his #81 Greenville Toyota machine in victory lane at the next ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, July 18th.
Goess Battles Transmission Issues to Finish 12th at Iowa
Iowa Post-Race Report
Craig Goess. (51 Sports Photo)
