Electrical Shortage Hampers Dexter Bean In ARCA Qualifying At Pocono

Topics:  Dexter Bean, Pennsylvania 200

Chris Knight
BlackJack Racing
August 3, 2007

POCONO, Pennsylvania (Friday, August 3, 2007) - - After racking in the fifth fastest time in the only practice session of the day Friday at Pocono Raceway for the ARCA RE/MAX Series, sophomore driver Dexter Bean was looking forward to ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying. However, an electrical shortage with Bean’s kill switch forced BlackJack Racing to withdraw from qualifying and take a provisional for Saturday’s Pennsylvania 200.

Rolling out 11th on the qualifying order, Bean drove his No. 6 Five Star Telecom Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS onto the 2.5-mile triangle gearing up for his only lap of qualifying, but Bean quickly radioed to his crew that his motor was skipping and he was bringing the car back to pit road.

After inspecting the machine, the team checked a few wires hoping they had solved the apparent miss. Crew chief Chris Bires called to his driver Dexter Bean and told him to try and make another qualifying run. Unfortunately, Bean radioed to the team again on the backstretch that the problem had not been fixed and he was taking his car to the garage.

With the team on the five minute clock, they were unable to successfully solve the problem within the time limit granted forcing a DNS (Did Not Start).

The team found the problem shortly after Bean climbed from his machine when the team diagnosed a shortage in the kill switch which caused the engine to sputter and skip.

The team would be granted the 33rd position on the starting grid, the first provisional available.

With the problem fixed, the team is hoping the shortage will be the only issue they will face this weekend at Pocono Raceway. The team is gunning for their first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory Saturday. Bean is trying to better his second place finish at the Pocono, Pennsylvania track this past June.

In three previous Pocono starts, Bean has led laps and scored two top-five finishes including the runner-up spot, a career best finish earlier this year. Bean enters the 45th ARCA race held at Pocono Raceway fourth in the championship standings, just 55 markers from climbing into the top three.

“It’s a shame that we had the electrical problem,” said a dejected Bean. “We have a good car, a really good car. I guess we have to be thankful that this problem occurred during qualifying and not the race. I strongly believe that we will be able to master our way through the field on Saturday. I just have to be patient and I think we’ll be able to contend for the win. I know a lot of people will be watching us.”

The Pennsylvania 200 (80 laps/200 miles) is the 14 of 23 races on the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The 45th ARCA race held at Pocono Raceway is a two-day show. The event will take the green flag on Saturday, August 4 shortly after 1:00pm Local Time with live coverage on SPEED. Additional race coverage can be found online at arcaracing.com

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

MEDIA CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, BlackJack Racing
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: Knight849@aol.com