HAGERSVILLE, ONTARIO (June
25, 2008) - - Fresh off of a
nice top-20 finish
in the USAR Hooter's Pro Cup Series
event at Myrtle Beach
Speedway last weekend,
sophomore ARCA RE/MAX Series
driver
Bryan Silas is ready
to grab his ARCA suit and
join the rest of the teams
across the
border for the
running of the Cayuga ARCA
RE/MAX 250 at Cayuga Motor
Speedway Sunday afternoon.
While the Stuart, Florida
native isn't sure what to
really expect out of the
tricky short track,
Silas is
hoping that his previous
short track experience in
both ARCA and USAR will pay
off in a big way and
award
the Fast Track Racing team
with their first top-five of
the 2008 season.
"Cayuga, here we come," said
Silas, who recently turned
21. "It's a new challenge
but we're welcoming it with
open arms and hope that luck
is on our side in Canada."
As far as what to expect
this weekend at Cayuga Motor
Speedway, Silas is extremely
optimistic.
"We didn't have the
opportunity to go out and
test at Cayuga Motor
Speedway,
so we're going to
have to rely on our notes
from Toledo
and work from
there. I'm not worried
because my crew chief
Jeff
McClure seems to be an
expert on these short
tracks, so I'm
confident
we'll unload competitive."
Looking to recover from the
team's last outing at
Michigan International
Speedway where
Silas steered
his No. 11 Nortrax-Shell
Rotella T
Ford Fusion to a
21st place
finish, Silas is ready to
put
his team back in the
top-10 for a fourth time
this year.
"We thought Michigan would
go better than it did,"
Silas admitted.
"We found
out after the race that we
had a parts failure which
kept us out of the hunt.
A
good run on Sunday afternoon
would be a nice rebound for
this team."
With the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX
Series half-way point
quickly approaching,
Silas
admits the team has improved
from last season
but the bar
will be raised another notch
in the final 11 races.
"You would think that 11
races is a long way to go,
but I guarantee
you they
will go by quickly. I'm
proud of the success we've
had thus
far this season,
but we're not there yet. I
feel with what we've learned
in the
first nine races and
what we can learn in Canada
this weekend
can help Fast
Track Racing become an even
stronger team in the second
half.
We want to be
comfortably inside the
top-10 in points
by Toledo
(October), so we'll have to
work a little harder to make
it a reality."
Currently holding the 13th
place in the ARCA RE/MAX
Series point standings,
Silas knows that a position
has been lost from Michigan
and he needs a strong run to
rally back into the
picture. "We can't afford to keep
losing ground in the
standings," Silas sounded.
"We're trying to put this
team in the top-10, which is
where we feel we belong.
Our
strength this season has
seemed to come on the
short
tracks, so I'm hoping that
we'll be able to maneuver a
strong run and give
our team
some confidence heading to
the next race."
Nortrax, Shell Rotella T,
Holland Pump, ICI Homes,
Palm Beach Grading (PBG) and
Rockingham Speedway will all
sponsor the No. 11 Chevrolet
Monte Carlo SS in the 10th
event on the 2008 ARCA
calendar.
"I think Cayuga is an
important race for the ARCA
RE/MAX Series,
so it's a
shame that there is no
extreme television coverage.
While there is no
television,
we still have to
be competitive and walk away
with a good finish that our
sponsors can be satisfied
with."
Entering Cayuga, Silas has
39 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts
to his credit with a career
best finish of
eighth at
Kentucky Speedway (May
2008), Iowa Speedway (April
2008), Salem Speedway (April
2007
and April 2008) and
Kentucky Speedway (July
2007) while holding
an
additional top-10
performance at USA
International Speedway
(March 2007).
He holds a
career best short track time
trials effort of seventh at
Berlin Raceway (July 2007).
A fourth place qualifying
effort at Pocono Raceway
(June 2007) is Silas's best
speedway run to date.
He has
controlled the ARCA field
for 26 laps in three races.
The Cayuga ARCA RE/MAX 250
(156.25 miles/250 laps) is
the 10th
of 21
events on the 2008 ARCA
RE/MAX Series schedule. The
first ARCA event held at
Cayuga Motor Speedway is a
two-day show. Practice
begins Saturday, June 28
with an
hour and a half
practice session planned
from 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. ARCA SIM Factory
pole
qualifying is slated to
begin at 3:30 p.m. The field
will take the green flag on
Sunday,
June 29 shortly
after 1:30 p.m. The race
will
not be televised
however, additional race
coverage
including live
timing and scoring will be
available online at