Obstacles Can’t Keep Bryan Silas From Top-Five At Salem

Obstacles Can’t Keep Bryan Silas From Top-Five At Salem

Topics: Bryan Silas, Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200

Obstacles Can’t Keep Bryan Silas From Top-Five At Salem

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
T3R Racing
May 3, 2011

SALEM, Indiana (May 3, 2011) - - Not even running around Salem’s brutal surface for three laps with a flat left front tire could keep Stuart, Florida’s Bryan Silas from finishing fourth in Sunday’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem (Ind.) Speedway.

The performance for Bryan Silas at the half-mile oval with Fast Track Racing (FTR) and mentor Andy Hillenburg was enough to feel like the 23-year old had won the third race of the season. And while the likable driver didn’t claim the checkered flag, the thundering performance behind the wheel of the No. 11 Rockingham Speedway Ford Fusion was enough to let the ARCA competition know that Silas is indeed knocking on the door to that first career win.

Silas returned to one of his favorite race tracks on the ARCA circuit looking to turn his 2011 season around after circumstances beyond his control shattered two strong potential finishes at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway respectively.

When practice began on Saturday afternoon, Silas and crew chief Dave McClure found themselves dealing with an ill-handling race car. Several adjustments later which included track bar and wedge, Silas shot up his No. 11 Ford Fusion to 15th overall on the practice rundown, a clear indication that they were going in the right direction.

In qualifying, Silas again picked up the pace and landed his blue oval 14th on the starting grid. It was the fourth time in nine races at the Southern Indiana short track that the avid race car driver had started from the outside of row number seven.

Mother Nature though drenched the track Sunday morning forcing ARCA officials to tediously dry the race track right up until race time. The field would rev their engines at 2:15 p.m. and assist in the track drying process by running 20 green flag laps at caution speed.

By lap 21 the field was under normal racing conditions with Silas slicing and dicing his way through the field. By lap 25, Silas had moved his machine into the 12th spot and found himself on the edge of the top-10 by lap 45.

A multi-car incident on the backstretch on lap 52 allowed Silas to escape the carnage unscathed and enter the top-10, holding the seventh position overall.

Holding his own inside the top-10, the caution flag would waive again on lap 69 when two cars collided in turn two. The yellow provided an opportunity to duck onto pit road for tires and fuel.

Back to green flag conditions, the field would circle under a long-green flag run with Silas again holding his own and waiting for the perfect opportunity to launch into attack mode.

In the closing laps, the caution would fly again bunching up the field with Silas looking good for a top-10 finish. On the restart though, the No. 31 would make contact with the No. 11 and ultimately cut the left front tire which Silas battled for three green flag laps before having to pit for a swap.

Thankfully, the caution flag would quickly waive with Silas only losing one lap to the leaders and ultimately another yellow flag would fly and through the beneficiary pass, Silas would retain his lead lap status.

Armed at the back of the field, Silas would fly through the field in the final 10 laps of the event and find himself on the back bumper of the No. 44 of Frank Kimmel coming to the white flag. Two attempts to take over the nine-time champion would prove to be unsuccessful, but Silas did take the checkered flag in the fourth position, tying a career-best finish.

“Now, that was a lot of fun,” said a jubilant Silas. “I think one more green flag lap and we would have gotten passed Frank (Kimmel). The car was hooked up on the end. I believe we had one of the stronger cars then. Man, it was just good to race back near the front in ARCA. I’m stoked. I have to thank Andy, Dave and all of the guys for a good race car this weekend. I think we’ll take this car to Toledo and see if we can’t pick up where we left off.”

Silas’s second-career top-five finish in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards matched a fourth-place finish at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway in April 2009. The effort on Sunday was Silas’s first top-five and seventh top-10 overall at Salem (Ind.) Speedway.

Round four for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards treks to the Toledo (Oh.) Speedway for the running of the Menards 200 on Sunday, May 15th. Silas will make his 10th career start at Toledo and 95th overall in ARCA.

For more on Bryan Silas please visit, BryanSilasRacing.com.

PHOTO CAPTION: Bryan Silas, driver of the No. 11 Rockingham Speedway Ford Fusion in ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards competition.

DRIVER CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com