Flat Tire Keeps Bean From Top-Five Finish In Kentucky

Topics:  Buckle-Up Kentucky 150, Dexter Bean

Chris Knight
BlackJack Racing
May 14, 2007

Wisconsin Native Stout Again; Loses Good Finish With Ten Laps To Go

SPARTA, Kentucky (May 14, 2007) - - It appeared that pit strategy was going to sail ARCA RE/MAX Series sophomore driver Dexter Bean into his second top-five performance of the season, but a flat tire 10 laps from the conclusion of Saturday’s Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 swallowed a good finish and instead delivered a 15th place effort.

The weekend started off solid for the BlackJack Racing team. In practice, Bean maneuvered the 12th fastest lap giving the team a baseline setup heading into ARCA SIM Factory qualifying.

In time trials, Bean bolted to the 15th quickest lap awarding him his second best Kentucky Speedway start. A quick turnaround between qualifying and the start of the seventh ARCA RE/MAX Series event of the season had the team focusing on protecting their position in the standings while also searching for their fifth straight top-10 performance.

At the start of the event, Bean quickly tried darting his No. 6 Five Star Telecom to the front. A caution waived on lap two when outside pole sitter Ken Butler III lost control of his machine in front of Bean sending the Westby, Wisconsin native darting to avoid him.

On the restart, Bean continued to maneuver his machine into the top-10. He would hover inside the outer ridges of the top-10 before the first round of pit stops began around lap 35.

Bean, sitting third in the championship standings heading into the first event at Kentucky Speedway this season brought his machine to the attention of his BlackJack Racing crew where they loaded up their driver with Sunoco Racing fuel.

Under the direction of crew chief Chris Bires, the team gambled on the pit stop sending the team into the top-five when the series returned to racing.

For much of the event, Bean maintained his position inside the top-five holding his ground and keeping his competition at bay despite fighting off competitors with new sets of Hoosier rubber.

With a couple lengthy cautions closing in on the finish, the team was confident they had enough fuel in their machine to stay out front.

Their planned work until a restart with 10 laps remaining when Bean reported to his crew he had a tire going down. Quickly his team scattered with their driver bringing his machine down pit road changing two right side tires and sending him back into competition.

Bean would lose a lap to leaders Erin Crocker and Erik Darnell but salvage a 15th place finish, his second best finish at the Northern-Kentucky based track.

Upon review of the tire after the event, it was determined that the tire was cut down due to a small piece of debris run over while attacking the 1.5-mile speedway. Luckily, it was a flat tire and not a destroyed racecar.

“It’s a disappointing finish especially after where we were running,” said Bean following the event. “However, I’m thankful we didn’t wreck the car and we still collected a decent finish. Luckily too, it wasn’t a really bad day in the point standings. We were going to gain some ground if we would have stayed in the top-five, but that’s the way it goes.”

Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is the first of two events at Toledo Speedway for the running of the Hantz Group 200 presented by Federated Auto Care set for this upcoming Sunday. The track considered hometown turf for the sanction will enjoy live television coverage beginning at 12:00pm on SPEED.

For more on Dexter Bean and BlackJack Racing please visit DexterBean.net

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MEDIA CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, BlackJack Racing
PHONE: 239.834.9797
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