Bryan Silas Posts Another Top-10 At Kentucky

Topics:  Bryan Silas, Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150

Chris Knight
Fast Track Racing
May 10, 2009

SPARTA, Kentucky (May 10, 2009) - - ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Bryan Silas continued his early season success Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway when Silas finished a solid ninth in the Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150.

A long day proved to be beneficial for the Stuart, Florida native. Practice was delayed several hours due to weeping conditions around the 1.5-mile speedway. When the track finally stopped leaking, Silas and his Fast Track Racing team maneuvered the 21st fastest lap in the two-hour practice session leading up to race time.

With ARCA qualifying being considered a “wash out”, Silas would start his No. 11 Rockingham Speedway-Oasis Outsourcing Ford Fusion in the fifth position based upon the team’s 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series owner standings.

At the start of the 100-lap event, Silas quickly hustled into the fourth position. Silas’s early run though would be stalled as the caution flag waived at the end of lap one for an incident out of turn two.

On the restart, Silas maintained his position inside the top-five but as the race ran under green; Silas’s No. 11 developed a tight condition which caused the 21-year old driver to slide back in the running order.

Sitting inside the top-10 when pit stops rolled around approaching lap 45, Silas brought his Ford Fusion to the attention of crew chief Cal Boprey and the Fast Track Racing team for a four tire stop which also included Sunoco Racing fuel and a chassis adjustment to try and manhandle the car’s handling. A hiccup though during the pit stop would cost Silas positions on the track. The team would restart in the 19th position.

Having to use his head and drive smart, Silas would cautiously maneuver his way through the field and find himself back in the top-10 in the closing laps of the event.

Unfortunately, the tight condition returned and several yellow flags blossomed which kept Silas at bay from returning to the top-five.

Still, Silas crossed the start-finish line ninth racking up his third top-10 finish of the season in five races. Silas hasn’t finished outside the top-16 since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February.

“We’ll take the finish, but we are not 100 percent satisfied,” said Silas. “I think not testing may have hurt us a little bit but we made the best of the situation. We’ll take this effort, learn from it and move on to Toledo Speedway next weekend.”

With his 13th career top-10 ARCA finish in the books, Silas holds fifth in the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship standings just 15 markers from moving into the fourth position and 165 credits from the top-spot.

Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is the first of two trips to Toledo Speedway for the running of the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care on Sunday, May 17. Toledo Speedway is the home track for the ARCA series. In five previous starts at the half-mile short track, Silas finished a track-best seventh in the most recent race at Toledo Speedway last October.

For more on Bryan Silas please visit, BryanSilasRacing.com.
Visit Fast Track Racing on the web at, FastTrackRacing.com.
###