ARCA RE/MAX Series Winchester ARCA 200 Practice Notes & Quotes |
|---|
Topics: Winchester ARCA 200, Dexter Bean, Dominick Casola, Phillip McGilton, Bryan Silas, Nick Tucker
|
Chris Knight
May 5, 2007
The ARCA RE/MAX Series (ARS) kicked off a very busy day Saturday at Winchester Speedway with the first and only practice session for the sixth race of the 2007 season. Saturday’s lone practice session was held under overcast and cooler temperatures. The sessions serves as the prelude to ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying set for this afternoon (4:15pm Eastern Time). The anticipated 35-car field will take the green flag for the Winchester ARCA 200 shortly after 1:00 pm Eastern Time tomorrow.
Here is what some of the drivers are saying from the practice session.
DEXTER BEAN, NO. 6 FIVE STAR TELECOM CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO
Bean, a sophomore driver on the ARCA RE/MAX Series tour posted the eighth fastest time of the day with a quick lap of 16.952 seconds at 106.182 MPH. The Westby Wisconsin native is seeking his fourth consecutive top-10 finish of the season Sunday afternoon. Entering the 20th ARCA event held at Winchester Speedway, Bean locks third in the championship standings just a mere 20-markers from second place competitor and eight-time ARS champion Frank Kimmel.
The BlackJack Racing team brought the same Chevrolet Monte Carlo the team excelled with a career-best finish of second two weeks ago at Salem Speedway to the track this weekend. In Salem , Bean started and finished second.
“We’re okay now, but we will be better in qualifying. Our car is strong but we didn’t have the mock qualifying run that we wanted. One of the tires was messed up a little and it hurt us in the run. I’m really proud of this BlackJack Racing team for everything they’ve done not only this weekend but all season long. Once again we have a quick racecar and we should be plenty fast in the race.”
Casola, a newbie on the ARS tour is in good hands entering Winchester Speedway this weekend. Under the direction of veteran owner and driver Andy Belmont, Casola will make his Winchester Speedway on Sunday. The Wall Township , New Jersey native looks to accelerate past his career-best finish of 17th occurring twice in his debut at USA International Speedway ( Lakeland ) and last Friday night at Kansas Speedway.
Casola is proudly carrying sponsorship from A. Casola Farms, a family-owned business based out of New Jersey .
In practice today, Casola turned a respectable time of 17.392 seconds at 103.496 MPH putting him 18th on the practice rundown overall.
“Our car is good, but this place reminds me of a double Salem ( Speedway ). Andy Belmont and his gang have given me a car that I can run competitively with tomorrow. I think we’ll qualify much better than what we practiced. It should be a fun race tomorrow. I just have to be patient and let the race come to us and our previous best finishes should be history.”
NOTE: McGilton and the Brewco Motorsports team have picked up new sponsorship for the remainder of the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series season. Montgomery Equipment Company, Inc. and Midwest Equipment Inc. have partnered up to become the primary sponsor of McGilton and the No. 47 Ford Fusion for the remaining 18 ARCA events of the season. McGilton’s ARS entry will be referred to as the No. 47 Montgomery Equipment Ford Fusion.
Coming off a career-best short track finish of seventh two weeks ago at Salem Speedway, current ARS Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Phillip McGilton is looking to best those results on Sunday.
Driving the same No. 47 Montgomery Equipment Ford Fusion the team tested with earlier this week at Toledo Speedway, McGilton aboard his Brewco Motorsports prepared machine bolted around the .5-mile speed plant in a time of 17.085 seconds amounting to a speed of 105.356 MPH, locking him ninth on the charts.
“This is the best short track car I’ve ever driven. The Brewco Motorsports team once again has given me a great racecar. We didn’t make a qualifying run and retired the car early from practice to save it for qualifying. We should start the race real close to the front and be in contention for a top-five finish tomorrow. Things are looking very bright for the Montgomery Equipment team this weekend.”
Silas, driving for former ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Andy Hillenburg will make his Winchester Speedway debut tomorrow. Carrying the Nortrax-Shell Rotella T-Holland Pump-Palm Beach Grading (PBG) colors, the 19-year old driver will look to advance from his ninth position in the point standings in his first go-around at the Central-based Indiana track.
The Stuart, Florida native hopes to better his career-best finish of eighth which he recorded two weeks ago at a track similar to Winchester Speedway.
NOTE: Silas lost a right-front tire during practice Saturday causing damage to the right side of his No. 11 Chevrolet. The team had called for the backup machine, but upon further review, the team is repairing the primary car in time for ARCA SIM Factory qualifying set for later this afternoon.
Before the incident, Silas posted a lap of 18.177 seconds or 99.026 MPH putting him 27th on the final rundown.
“I’m not sure what happened, the tire went and I ended up in the wall. I had a small hiccup before that when I slid into the turn four wall, but the Fast Track Racing team did a great job repairing the car and we were trying to run some laps before the tire incident. I know the backup car is just as consistent and fast as the primary was, so I am not worried about anything. I’m with one of the best teams in the garage area.”
Tucker, a former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) driver is driving his favorite car out of the Carter-2-Motorsports camp this weekend. With results of 15th and 16th at USA International Speedway ( Lakeland ) and Salem Speedway respectively, Tucker hopes to maneuver himself into a top-10 effort on Sunday.
The North Carolina native looks to make his fifth career ARS start on Sunday. In a car owned by the legendary James “Harvey” Hylton, Tucker, an employee and test driver for Evernham Motorsports logged the 17th fastest lap with a time of 17.355 seconds or 103.717 MPH.
“The car is very stable. Our car is showing the same characteristics that it did in Salem . I think we’ll qualify around the top-15 and if everything should fall into place we should be competing inside the top-10 all day long tomorrow. I want to thank my Carter-2-Motorsports team for once again giving me a very solid racecar.”
###
NAME: Chris Knight
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: knight849@aol.com