Bryan Silas Returns To Pocono Raceway Looking For Season Best Finish

Topics:  Bryan Silas, Pennsylvania 200

Chris Knight
Fast Track Racing
July 30, 2008

LONG POND, Pennsylvania (July 30, 2008) – - Looking at the results you might not think that Pocono Raceway has been a good track for sophomore ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Bryan Silas, but finishes can be deceiving. And as the national stock car touring series returns to Pocono Raceway this weekend, Silas looks to begin to change his average finish at the 2.5-mile facility in Saturday’s Pennsylvania 200.

Additionally, Silas aims to return to the Pocono Mountains to record his fourth top-10 finish of the season with an eye towards his first ever top-five finish in his young ARCA career. The Fast Track Racing team enters the 13th event of the season riding a wave of momentum after a satisfying 13th place finish in the most recent ARCA RE/MAX Series event at Berlin Raceway.

“It’s Pocono time,” said Silas, who hails from Stuart, Florida. “I really enjoy competing at Pocono Raceway despite not having the finishes we deserve. When we were here in June we had a competitive car but a mechanical issue that no one could control washed away our hopes of a good run.”

Returning back to the track that holds the career-best qualifying run for the Fast Track Racing development driver, Silas is eager to step it up a little more and also be in contention for his first career ARCA SIM factory pole award Friday afternoon.

“We’ve always qualified well at Pocono,” he explained. “Last year, I think we surprised everyone with our fourth place starting spot, but I wasn’t the least bit surprised. We have a good team filled with great people. Jeff (McClure, crew chief) and I know what we need in our car this weekend so I’m hoping to emerge as a serious contender in the race Saturday afternoon.”

Silas added, “There are a lot of factors you have to deal with at Pocono. From tires, to engines and even handling, everything comes into play. It’s a relatively short race but there’s plenty of action and plenty of passing opportunities, so it should be a good show for the fans too.”

Continuing to lock 12th in the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship standings, Silas is only 65 markers from entering the top-10. “We’ve gained a lot of ground here lately and that’s what we’ve been after. It’s been a heck of a point’s season, I’ll have to admit. I don’t think anyone anticipated the season to be so close but it gives the teams the extra push to go out there and perform on a weekly basis and that’s what we here to do.”

Nortrax, Shell Rotella T, Holland Pump, Oasis, Palm Beach Grading (PBG) and Rockingham Speedway will all sponsor the No. 11 Ford Fusion in the 13th event on the 2008 ARCA calendar.

“You know the first ARCA race here this season was televised on a tape-delayed basis, now we return and there is zero television coverage at all and it’s really disappointing. I think the fans at home really enjoy the Pocono race because there are so many challenges that the teams face during the event and that usually makes for a good finish. It would have also provided some grand exposure for our sponsors to acquire some great television time, but it is what it is and we’ll go out there and give everything we have.”

Following the conclusion of the Pennsylvania 200, Silas will quickly hop on a plane and head to Hickory, North Carolina where the avid racecar driver will participate in the USAR Hooter’s Pro Cup Series event at Hickory Motor Speedway in the 4 Brothers 250 Saturday night.

Entering Pocono, Silas has 42 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts to his credit with a career best finish of eighth at Kentucky Speedway (May 2008), Iowa Speedway (April 2008), Salem Speedway (April 2007 and April 2008) and Kentucky Speedway (July 2007) while holding an additional top-10 performance at USA International Speedway (March 2007). He holds a career best short track time trials effort of seventh at Berlin Raceway (July 2007). A fourth place qualifying effort at Pocono Raceway (June 2007) is Silas's best speedway run to date. He has controlled the ARCA field for 26 laps in three races.

The Pennsylvania 200 (200 miles/80 laps) is the 13th of 21 events on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The 47th ARCA event held at Pocono Raceway is a two-day show. Practice begins Friday, August 1 with an hour and forty minute practice session planned from 10:15 a.m.-11:55 a.m. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is slated to begin at 1:45 p.m. The field will take the green flag on Saturday, August 2 shortly after 1:00 p.m. The event will not be televised but additional race coverage including live timing and scoring and radio coverage courtesy of the ARCA Radio Network will be available online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

For more on Bryan Silas please visit, BryanSilasRacing.com

Visit Fast Track Racing on the web at, FastTrackRacing.com

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