Bryan Silas Hopes Experience Gained During Break Pays Off At Toledo

Topics:  Bryan Silas, Menards 200

Chris Knight
Fast Track Racing
May 17, 2010

TOLEDO, Ohio (May 18, 2010) - - After finishing inside the top-20 in the most recent ARCA Racing Series (ARS) presented by RE/MAX and Menards event at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 23, Stuart, Florida native Bryan Silas decided to dabble in the USARacing Pro Cup Series where he competed at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway.

While Silas was unable to post a top-10 finish at Hickory, he bounced back in incredible fashion at Rockingham this past weekend where he guided his No. 59 Silas Equipment Ford Fusion for Mark Gibson Racing (MGR) to a ninth place finish. It was the second top-10 effort for the duo in four starts.

Some drivers chose to relax, some chose to take a vacation but the 22-year old Silas decided to stay behind the wheel of a race car hoping that the short track experience he gained over the past three weeks will help him in Sunday’s Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care at the famed Toledo (Oh.) Speedway.

“The USARacing Pro Cup Series competes on nothing but short tracks and with some rigorous ARCA short track races coming up, I decided there was nothing more important for me to do than to keep racing and gain more experience,” Silas said confidently. “It’s been a real pleasure working with Mark Gibson and his crew. We’re in this together. We have had some bumps along the way and we expected that but there is no doubt Mark’s (Gibson) leadership and his confidence in me is helping me on the ARCA side too.”

The driver of the No. 11 Rockingham Speedway / Palm Beach Grading Ford Fusion returns to Toledo Speedway for the eighth time in his career and is aiming for his fourth consecutive top-10 run at the half-mile oval. With three finishes of seventh, eighth and seventh reverting back to the fall Toledo race of 2008, Silas is aiming to conquer his third top-10 finish of the year and is focusing on his first top-five of the season.

“We’ve had some good runs at Toledo recently,” Silas sounded. “Cal (Boprey, crew chief) and I have worked on an aggressive setup and it has worked to our advantage. We’ve been able to come from the back to the front when we needed to but this year we want to qualify out front and stay there. Cal and the entire Fast Track Racing team is excited about this weekend, so I say let’s go!”

Occupying the eighth position in the ARCA Racing Series championship standings heading into the sixth race of the year, Silas is just 55 points from vaulting to fourth in the championship standings. The Fast Track Racing pilot knows that Toledo presents an opportunity to gain some much needed ground. However, he knows it could also backfire just as fast.

“We were able to make some serious gains at Toledo last year,” Silas recalled. “We were involved in an altercation in the first race at Toledo last year and I thought our day was done, but we were able to bounce back, race, finish in the top-10 and gain some valuable points. After a topsy-turvy start to the year we need a good run and a chance to distance ourselves from our competitors in the point standings.”

Nason, Yeager, Gerson, White & Lioce P.A., MTW Services, Inc., Palm Beach Grading (PBG) and Rockingham Speedway will all sponsor Silas’s Ford Fusion for his 76th career ARCA start.

Before turning his concentration towards this weekend’s activities, Silas will join a group of other ARCA Racing Series competitors for an autograph session at the annual ARCA Fan Fest on the grounds of Toledo Speedway (5639 Benore Road, Toledo, Ohio 43612) on Friday May 21 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

The Menards 200 by Federated Car Care (200 laps / 100 miles) is the sixth of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing Series schedule. The 67th ARCA race at Toledo Speedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Saturday, May 22 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell is set for later in the day slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. An hour and 15 minute on-track autograph session has been etched in from 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. on race day. The contest will take the green flag shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 23. The race will not be televised but weekend coverage including live timing and scoring and a radio broadcast will be available through the BAS Racing Network 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.

###