Lofton breaks through at Charlotte

Justin Lofton earned his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, holding off NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Brad Keselowski.

“This is amazing,” Lofton said after claiming the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. “I really don't even know what to do. This day's been a long time coming.”

Lofton, 26, had posted four straight top-10 finishes to start the season. He started second Friday and led 44 laps en route to the win. Rounding out the top 5 were Todd Bodine, Jason Leffler and Ron Hornaday Jr.

A stellar rookie performance was turned in by Jeb Burton, son of former NASCAR driver Ward Burton, who ran in the top 10 all night before finishing eighth.

Lofton said he had a good vibe coming into this race.

“This entire week, it was one of those weeks where I was just real calm, real excited about the race. I've seen all the hard work. It's just amazing to be able to do it for these guys. I've seen all the hard work that Dan (Bormann) puts in, day in and day out. Dan believed in me, taking a chance, quitting a job, coming over to take over as crew chief. He has done an amazing job.”

Eddie Sharp, owner of Lofton's No. 6 CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet, added that the win was a major step for his team, which acquired Kevin Harvick's equipment when the Cup star opted to close down his Truck Series squad.

“Everybody knows my story, and the really big story was KHI going away. We went out on a limb, and I had some people who believed in me," said Sharp. "Justin and his dad believed in me, so I made a huge commitment and bought out KHI. There were a lot of people who thought I was nuts. To do what we've done this early… you know, you can buy all the equipment and stuff, but it all comes down to people. We put all our cards on the table. This is what I do. I don't have a bunch of dealerships; I don't own another business; I'm not in construction, this is what I do. This is by far the biggest win of our career.”