At 15, Justin Lofton thought his racing career was over.

Lofton was competing in a downhill mountain-bike race when he crashed and broke his femur. He was taken off the mountain by helicopter and to a nearby hospital where doctors would clean out his wound and reset his leg. Lofton was in the intensive care unit for 10 days.

Lofton's nearly two-year-long recovery would include 11 reconstruction surgeries, blood transfusions, and rods inserted into his leg. And after walking on crutches for a year, the future of his racing career was uncertain.

“

It's a huge weight off the shoulders. ... I knew I had the talent but I tried too hard to show it. I knew I needed to let the race come to me instead of attacking it.

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JUSTIN LOFTON

"I was on an emotional roller-coaster for a while and never thought I'd walk and at one point I wanted to cut it off so I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore," Lofton said.

However, the injury turned out to be what he considered a blessing in disguise and the catalyst that took him from two wheels to four and ultimately from his native California to North Carolina.

"I think everything happens for a reason and I wouldn't be living in N.C. if I hadn't broken my leg," said Lofton, who at 17 was introduced to super stocks.

In 2003, Lofton made his debut in the Colorado Hill Climb Association and drove a super-stock Mustang for Gay Smith. He competed in only three events with one victory, a second place and a third place, won rookie of the year honors.

In 2004, Lofton moved to off-road desert racing and competed in the Best in the Desert Buggy Class 1000. His rookie year brought him three victories, two seconds, the Class 1000 championship, and another rookie title.

The following year, Lofton moved to oval tracks with the help of his father, also an off-road racer, at California's Irwindale Speedway in the Auto Club Late Model Series, where he gained valuable experience and had a victory and six top-10 finishes.

By 2006, the determination and skill that Lofton showed propelled him into the NASCAR Grand National West Series. In 2007, he and his father started Lofton Racing.

While racing in what is now NASCAR's Camping World Series West, Lofton befriended Chip Ganassi crew chief Brad Parrot, who welcomed Lofton into his North Carolina home so that Lofton could familiarize himself with the stock-car community.

"I was ready to get out of California and by Feb. 18, on my birthday, I was pulling into the state of North Carolina and to my apartment in Birkdale Village," Lofton said.

The friendship with Parrot and others at Chip Ganassi Racing facilitated Lofton's contract to race a full season this year for Eddie Sharp Racing in the ARCA Re/Max Series and, on June 14, Lofton found Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.

"It's exciting but more of a relief, I was trying for a win for the last three years," he said. "It's a huge weight off the shoulders. I came here an unknown kid from California, and deep down I knew I had the talent but I tried too hard to show it. I've spent the last couple of weeks with myself. I knew I needed to let the race come to me instead of attacking it."

Lofton, who earned the SunTrust Highest Finishing Rookie of the Race award, became the eighth different winner after nine events in 2008. The 22-year-old driver also established a race record with an average speed of 150.596 mph, surpassing the old mark of 145.956 set by David Stremme in 2006.

With 50 starts now on asphalt, Lofton said his career is firmly cemented in NASCAR and he hopes to advance to the Truck Series next season.