Twenty-three-year-old Sean Caisse collected his first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory Sunday afternoon in the Carolina 200 at the Rockingham Speedway in a car prepared by Venturini Motorsports. Caisse passed Ken Schrader with three laps remaining when Schrader ran out of gas and was forced to pit road after leading 185 laps of the event.

“Venturini Motorsports is such a great deal for development drivers and, hopefully, this is a good step for my future,” said Caisse, who had slightly more than $80 in his checking account when he lost his previous ride. “I hope to be back in this Venturini Motorsports car soon. My crew chief is shaking his head yes that I will be.”

Caisse averaged 104.834 mph in the race and was told by crew chief Billy Venturini with 25 to go that he needed to conserve fuel.

“The way you do it is you are just easier on and off the gas,” Caisse explained. “Start rolling off the gas about three-fourths of the way down the straightaway instead of charging the corners real hard. It slowed us down enough, but we had a big enough gap over third place that just in case something happened to the leader, we could slow down and still maintain our position. It’s a fine balance, but it worked out for us today.”

Schrader was obviously disappointed, but said he had seen worse days.

“I just needed to know a little bit earlier (that we were short on fuel),” said Schrader, who finished seventh, one lap down. “I didn’t think it would go that long without a yellow. If I would have known a little bit earlier, I think I started saving with about 40 laps to go. You think I could have saved a couple laps more.”

“We had a good car,” he continued. “We didn’t come and test. We came on our own nickel trying to get a sponsor, so we’re just working it; going to run some more of these Speed TV races.”

Schrader said the Rockingham track hadn’t changed since the days he raced on it in NASCAR events.

“Run around the bottom, around the top and any place in between,” the Missouri-native commented.

Matt Merrell finished third, while Brian Silas and Parker Kligerman rounded out the top five.

1.  25-Sean Caisse Texas Corral-PME Engines Chevrolet
2.  60-Patrick Sheltra BuckedUpShirts.com Dodge
3.  32-Matt Merrell ColinsHope.org Dodge
4.  11-Bryan Silas Rockingham Speedway-Holland Pumps Chevrolet
5.  77-Parker Kligerman Cunningham Motorsports Dodge
6.  81-Craig Goess Greenville Toyota Toyota
7.  52-Ken Schrader Ken Schrader Racing Chevrolet
8.  51-Ryan Crane Phoenix Construction Dodge
9.  15-Alex Yontz Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet
10. 20-Steve Arpin ESR Toyota
11. 44-Frank Kimmel Ansell-Menards Ford
12. 19-Alli Owens ElectrifyingCareers.com Toyota

13.   1-Tom Hessert Classic Auto Group Ford
14. 90-Gabi DiCarlo Great Clips Toyota
15.   2-Tim George Jr. Ruby Tuesday Toyota
16. 22-Drew Herring Black's Tire Service Chevrolet
17. 33-Ricky Carmichael Charter-Kevin Harvick Racing Chevrolet
18. 43-Kyle Martel Bill Martel Chevrolet
19. 09-Grant Enfinger BeasleyAllen.com Ford
20.   8-Brian Ickler BrianIckler.com Toyota
21. 14-Nur Ali A to Z Wholesale Dodge

22.   6-Justin Lofton Lofton Cattle-ESR Toyota
23. 03-Stephan McCurley Porter Glass/American Screen/Royal Purple Chevy
24.   4-Ken Weaver Tri Color Dodge
25. 83-Curt Tori EISI-Koolduct PTM-Blackstallion Machine Chevrolet
26. 23-Jeremy Petty Hixson Construction Chevrolet
27. 06-Barry Fitzgerald TheBusPlace.com Ford
28. 48-James Hylton Radon.com Ford
29. 26-Brad Smith ApplianceZone.com Ford
30. 16-Joey Coulter Darrell Gwynn Foundation-Tempest Cycle Sales Chevy
31. 94-Jason Basham Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet

32. 84-Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
33. 28-Jeff Buice Shaver Motorsports Chevrolet
34. 36-Robb Brent Orchard Dodge Dodge
35. 31-Brent Brevak Northern Clearing Dodge
36. 34-Darrell Basham Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet

37. 10-Scot Alves Fast Track High Performance Driving School Dodge
38. 57-Ron Cox Hixson Construction Chevrolet
39. 18-Billy Leslie Titan Tire Ford  
40.   0-Butch Jarvis Wayne Peterson Racing Chevrolet

Menards Pole Award Presented by Ansell:  Ken Schrader 24.698 (145.761 mph)
Margin of Victory:  7.535 seconds

Cautions:  5 for 39 laps
Time of Race:  1:54:28

Average Speed:  104.834 mph
Lap Leaders:  Schrader 1-12, 21-106,111-197 (185), Sheltra 13-20 (8), Martel 107-110 (4), Caisse 198-200 (3)

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