In his third-career dirt track start, Craig Goess drove the No. 81 Greenville Toyota of N.C. Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota to an 11th-place finish at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards.

The one-day show began early Sunday morning as Goess took the No. 81 Greenville Toyota of N.C. around the track during practice to gain experience on the dirt surface. He finished the lone practice of the day with the 11th-quickest time of 35.450 seconds (101.551 mph).

Shortly after practice, No. 81 Greenville Toyota of N.C. turned the one-mile oval in 37.001 seconds (97.295 mph) to qualify in the 16th position.

As the green flag dropped on the Allen Crowe Memorial 100, Goess looked to maintain consistency and improve on his previous dirt track finishes. The No. 81 battled in the top-15 for most of the day as he worked hard to bring home a solid finish and gain points in the ARCA Racing Series championship standings.

Patrick Sheltra crossed the finish line first, holding off Mikey Kile in a green-white-checker finish. Sheltra became the 13th different winner in 14 races this season. Goess finished just outside the top-10 in the 11th position.

"It was a great learning experience," said Goess. "Overall, it was not a terrible day, especially since this was only my third race ever on a dirt track. We finished the race and picked up points on the leaders, which I am happy with. I am proud of our team for their effort today. From here, we will take what we learned and move onto the next race."

The points race continues to tighten as the top-three leaders are separated by a mere 10 points. Frank Kimmel, nine-time ARCA Racing Series champion holds the first position, five points ahead of Tom Hessert in second place. Goess rounds out the top-three, five points behind Hessert.

Goess and the ESR team head to the Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, August 27 for the Ansell Protective Gloves 150. The green flag drops at 6 p.m. CDT (7 p.m. EST) for the 100-lap, 150-mile race. The event will air live on SPEED with live timing, scoring and audio coverage on ARCARacing.com.

Craig Goess Finishes 11th at Illinois State Fairgrounds Dirt Track

Goess and the No. 81 Greenville Toyota  Run Well On the Dirt

Craig Goess was 11th at Illinois.