When it comes to qualifying at Salem Speedway (IN), Craig Goess has that skill down pat.  Earlier this season, Goess qualified his #81 Greenville Toyota Camry second in the ARCA RE/MAX Series event at the track, only to have a tire failure drop him out of a shot for a solid finish.

This past Saturday, Goess returned to the Indiana track with the ARCA RE/MAX Series, and once again had a solid qualifying effort, starting the race in the third position, but contact with another car damaged the front of his machine, punching a hole in the radiator, causing the car to overheat and Goess to park the car with a disappointing 23rd-place finish.

“The car wasn't that good and we worked on it really hard during practice and got it a lot better than when we unloaded,” said Goess.  “We qualified well and I think we would have been good on a long run.  We just went to go by a lapped car on the outside, following a car in front of us, and I guess the lapped car's spotter didn't tell him we were there because he just came up right into us across our hood going into one like he didn't even know we were there.  That pretty much ended our day after the heavy front end damage, so it was kind of a disappointing weekend.”

With a few weeks off until the next ARCA RE/MAX Series event in Kansas, Goess will spend the off time back at the track, testing for the final race of the 2009 season, held at Rockingham Speedway (NC).

“We're going to go test at Rockingham on Wednesday and see if we can learn a little something out there and get a little better than we were when we were there in the spring.”

The next ARCA RE/MAX Series race for Goess and the #81 Greenville Toyota Camry will take place on Thursday, October 1st, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.

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Craig Goess weekend at Salem didn't quite as he would have liked. (51 Sports Photo)