Brent Brevak Leaning On Experience And Support For Talladega Debut

Topics:  Brent Brevak, 3 Amigos 250

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Brevak Racing
April 12, 2011

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 12, 2011) - - When Brent Brevak saw Trevor Bayne pull his legendary Wood Bros. Racing Ford Fusion into victory lane in the Daytona 500 in February, the youngest winner in the history of NASCAR’s greatest race gave hope to those vying for the same opportunity. While Brevak isn’t expecting to be competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) anytime soon, the second-generation driver is leaning on Bayne’s same principals and appreciation -- hoping to pull off the Cinderella story of the 2011 ARCA season thus far in Friday’s 3 Amigos 250.

Brevak, driving for his family owned Brevak Racing team, along with his crew have been working hard on his No. 3 Red’s Auto / Brevak Racing Ford Fusion since the season-opening Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway which saw the Ashland, Wisconsin native qualify for the season-opener but fall victim to a parts failure 50 laps into the 80-lap shootout to finish a disappointing 38th.

With Daytona in the rear-view mirror and realizing that dreams like Bayne’s can come true, Brevak and his team return to restrictor plate racing not only looking for experience but vying for the opportunity to show that he can get the job done.

“Because of a lot of hard work and dedication, we’re going to Talladega,” Brevak said. “The support and faith of my family and my team is propelling us to give restrictor plate racing another try. We had a pretty decent car during the (Daytona) race but just had a failure with a wheel stud that took us completely out of competition. We’ve fixed the car and we’re going to Talladega with our heads held high – knowing we can get our goals accomplished.”

The goal for the son of 1990 ARCA Racing Series championship driver Bob Brevak and owner Shelly Brevak is to simply stay in the lead draft and put his No. 3 Red’s Auto / Brevak Racing Ford Fusion in contention when the time is right.

“Timing is everything,” explained the 23-year old Brevak. “My family has been around racing a long, long time – so collectively we know what we need to do. We don’t have a lot of sponsorship dollars; but we’re here to let everyone know we have what it takes and that’s exactly what we plan to do.”

With his blue oval powered by Roush Yates Engines decked out in the same colors of his father’s championship season, Brevak knows that his scoring a victory in his sixth career start is a long-shot; but realizes that anything can happen in racing; especially at a track like Talladega.

“No doubt about it, this is wild card racing,” Brevak said. “I don’t mind this kind of racing – but it’s definitely different from my other ARCA starts on short tracks and intermediate tracks. We’ll run our race and then when it’s time to go, we’ll execute. It would mean something for me though if we’re able to take this car decked out in my dad’s championship paint scheme to victory lane.”

Rewinding back in time, Joe Slonkosky, the 1990 ARCA Mechanic of the Year as winning crew chief on the No. 34 Brevak Racing championship team would have been at the team’s side this weekend but he continues to recover from a recent stroke at Versailles Health Care Center in Versailles, Ohio. Despite his absence, the team will race knowing his spirit is present.

“Joe has been a long-time fixture of Brevak Racing for many, many years,” the young Brevak sounded. “While he’s not able to be here with us in Talladega, his spirit still surrounds us. We’re racing for him – we’re hoping to bring him home a good finish and bring him back to the track with us again soon.”

Former ARCA winner Mark Gibson of Mark Gibson Racing will be on-hand to assist the team on Wednesday and Thursday as the two entities have formed an alliance. Undoubtedly, the support of Gibson, noted as one of the most respected in the ARCA garage is uplifting for the team. “I’m really appreciative of Mark taking time to help us. He can’t be with us during the race because of other obligations, but I think he will be an instrumental piece of the puzzle this week,” said Brent, a senior at UW-Eau Claire where he’ll graduate in May with a major in broadcast journalism.

Brevak Racing encourages their fans and supporters to check out their official Brevak Racing Group Facebook page where you can find more about the team and the “Ride Along With Brent” fan participation program.

Sponsorship dollars will determine Brevak’s remaining ARCA Racing Series schedule but the team is hopeful to continue the season at Salem (Ind.) Speedway on May 1st, two weeks following his inaugural debut at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

For more on Brevak Racing, please visit brevakracing.com.

For additional input on Red’s Auto, please logon to redsautosales.com.

The 3 Amigos 250 (94 laps / 250 miles) is the second of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 49th ever ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Thursday, April 14 with a three hour practice session planned from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell is set for later in the day slated to begin at 5:05 p.m. Coverage of time trials is available online through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com in collaboration with Alabama’s local WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM. A 45-minute final practice has been etched in on Friday, April 15 from 10:00 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. The event will take the green flag that afternoon shortly after 4:00 p.m. The race will be televised live on SPEED with additional live broadcasting available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com in collaboration with Alabama’s local WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM. All times are local (Central).

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Shelly Brevak, Brevak Racing
PHONE: 704.907.2135
EMAIL: sbrevak@brevakracing.com

MEDIA CONTACT:

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