SALEM, Indiana (April 16, 2008) - - It was just a matter of time before Bryan Silas returned to the top-10 in ARCA RE/MAX Series competition. And at Salem Speedway this past Sunday, Silas stormed back into the championship chase with a solid eighth place finish in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 by Federated Auto Parts.
Calling Salem Speedway one of his "favorite tracks" on the ARCA schedule, Silas knew that recent testing and the guidance of new crew chief Jeff McClure was bound to pay off in the second event of the season.
He was right on target.
The weekend started off great for the Fast Track Racing team as the team unloaded strong with a 11th place practice effort after Silas motored a lap of 17.464 seconds at 114.407 mph. "The car is great," offered Silas. "I'm really excited about this weekend and I cannot be more thrilled to post that good of an effort in practice. I have to give thanks to my Fast Track Racing team, they are the best!"
Looking to keep the good weekend going, Silas was hoping for a solid starting position in ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying. Maneuvering a lap of 17.577 seconds or 113.671 mph, Silas would start his third career ARCA race at Salem in the 16th position. "This is the best I've ever qualified at Salem Speedway in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and that's something to be proud of. I wish we would have qualified a little better, but we can't complain with starting inside the top-20. We'll try to stay out of trouble and gather a good run on Sunday."
Consistent rain showers forced a miserable day on Sunday at Salem Speedway. Blistering cold conditions and considerable dampness would postpone the start of the 83rd ARCA event at Salem Speedway for two hours with the green flag thrown just before 5:00pm local time.
In an effort to completely dry the track, ARCA would utilize the 35-car starting field to run the first 15 laps of the race under a green and yellow condition. The official green flag was thrown on lap 16 with Silas wasting no time charging to the front.
With car owner and two-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Andy Hillenburg guiding Silas through the Salem traffic, the two would continue to move forward in the running order until a huge melee broke out on lap 30. Hillenburg informed his sophomore driver to stop the No. 11 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS and allow the carnage to clear.
Silas emerged untouched and cleanly positioned himself into the top-10. On the restart, Silas got back to work and continued his march to the front. As the race continued on Silas would steadily and quietly pick off one position at a time.
Moving into the sixth position by half-way, the day was looking real good for Silas. Planning to make their final pit stop approaching lap 105, McClure's bunch pulled off a good stop sending their driver back into competition.
Slicing his way back to the lead pack, Silas would find himself in a close battle with the top-five bunch. Inside 50 circuits to go, Silas would race hard with rookie driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. with the two making casual contact sending the No. 99 of Stenhouse, Jr for a loop.
Keeping himself solidly in the top-five it would appear that the Stuart, Florida native was setting sail to a career-best finish in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, but Stenhouse, Jr. had other plans. In a sign of retaliation, the No. 99 hit the No. 11 sending him for a spin in turn two with Silas making contact with the wall just 20 laps from the finish.
Losing a lap to the leaders, Silas gathered himself up and brought his Rockingham Speedway-sponsored Chevrolet to the attention of his crew where they would make repairs and send their driver back into competition.
Silas would see the benefit of the "Lucky Dog" award in ARCA competition as Silas gained his lost lap back on the next caution putting him back on the lead lap.
Picking off the No. 30 machine of Terry Jones in the final circuits of the race, Silas would cross the line eighth; awarding him his fourth career top-10 finish.
"It was a good weekend," said Silas after the race. "I'm sorry for the contact with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. I did not mean to get into him, but we were all racing pretty hard there. I didn't expect him to come back and do what he did. I can't do anything to change that, I'm just glad that we were able to persevere and bounce back with a top-10 finish."
He continued, "The team really deserves all the credit for this. They gave me a great racecar and I had a blast. This is exactly what we needed to turn our season around and I'm looking forward to Iowa Speedway."
Leaving Salem, Silas has 31 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts to his credit with a career best finish of eighth at 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 23 laps in two races.
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is a trip to relatively new Iowa Speedway for the Prairie Meadows 250. The third race on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule kicks off on Saturday, April 19, 2008 with live coverage on SPEED beginning at 12:30pm local time.
For more on Bryan Silas please visit, BryanSilasRacing.com
Visit Fast Track Racing on the web at, FastTrackRacing.com
