Joliet, ILLINOIS (September 8, 2008) - - Sophomore ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Bryan Silas said earlier in the week he was looking for the "complete package" heading into the 17th event of the 2008 season at the Chicagoland Speedway.

With crew chief Jeff McClure calling the shots, Silas called Chicagoland Speedway one of his favorite tracks on the 2008 schedule and Saturday's race showed why.

While practice didn't start out too fresh for the 21-year old driver he was able to battle adversity including a solo spin to get refocused for ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying. "We had a little bit of a hiccup in practice," Silas admitted. "No harm no foul. The car is fine and I'm going to communicate with Jeff (McClure, crew chief) and we're going to make some changes and see if we can make our Ford Fusion better."

In ARCA qualifying late Friday afternoon, Silas maneuvered a lap of 31.389 seconds at 172.035 MPH, putting the avid racecar driver 28^th on the starting grid. "Not exactly our seventh place qualifying run from last year, but I think we'll have a good car for the race. I really was pleased with the way our Nortrax-Shell Rotella T-Palm Beach Grading Ford Fusion handled and I'm looking forward to the race.

A late day on Friday meant a late start to activities on Saturday with the garage opening at 12:00 p.m. local time with Silas keeping himself plenty hydrated and focused heading into the 5:00 p.m. start time.

When the green flag waived for the Chicagoland ARCA 200, Silas wasted no time putting his black and gold No. 11 up in the running order but he would be quickly halted when the No. 09 and No. 66 wrecked at the conclusion of lap one. With Silas holding down the 22^nd position, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver remained quiet on the radio waiting for the green flag to waive.

Some 15 laps later, Silas shifted gears and mounted another charge through the competitive ARCA field. Picking up two positions on the initial restart, Silas held his line and maintained his position on the race course when the yellow flag waived just three laps later.

With little green flag racing, Silas was really unable to give McClure a clear indication on what his No. 11 machine was doing on the track. He informed the veteran crew chief that when they got a handful of laps under their belt, he would let them know what he thought.

The next restart would provide the long-green flag that Silas was looking for. The caution flag waived nearly twenty circuits later giving Silas an opportunity to bring his Andy Hillenburg-owned machine down pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to correct a tight-handling car.

Silas returned to the track hovering safely in the top-20. The veteran Sportsman Late Model driver would continue to hold in the top-20 during much of the race's second-half.

The longest span of green flag racing came during the race's later stages with much of the field taking the opportunity to come in under the green flag. McClure opted to keep his development driver out there and hope for a caution while gambling on some pit strategy.

The gamble paid off and finally luck was on Silas's side. Despite being overtaken by the leader right before a caution came out on lap 112, Silas would be the beneficiary of the "Lucky Dog" award which puts the first car one lap off the pace back on the lead circuit. With just four cars on the lead circuit, when the yellow flag waived, Silas became the fifth and began setting up for a 20-lap shootout.

Under the yellow, Silas came in for four tires and fuel. McClure sent his driver back onto to the track. Under the "Lucky Dog" beneficiary rules, Silas must start at the tail-end of the longest line which happened to be on the inside with the lap down cars.

Far from the leaders, Silas knew that he was on-track to a career best finish and needed to avoid the chaos surrounding him. Playing it cool and being patient, Silas held the fifth position until the final caution of the day waived on lap 129.

With Scott Speed getting back on the lead lap and Silas now tucked in behind the four leaders with the pressure on, six cars would be battling it out for the Chicagoland ARCA 200 win. Prior to the green-white-finish, Silas radioed spotter and car owner Andy Hillenburg and advised him to let Speed know that he was going to give him the outside knowing that Speed had the faster car and he would hope to follow him through the leaders.

On the restart, Silas did exactly as promised and tried to follow Speed but found himself in close competition with the No. 30 of Jesse Smith. Coming to the checkered flag, Silas was searching for his first career top-five finish but settled for sixth completing all 136 circuits.

"Man, what an awesome night," said Silas climbing from his car. "For once the cards played out for us. Jeff McClure is the man. He opted to keep us out and it proved to be the right move for us. That's two straight top-10 finishes in a row, we haven't done that since Salem and Iowa in the beginning of the year. We're heading back to Salem for the next race. That is one of my favorite short tracks. Maybe I can make it three for three."

Exiting Chicagoland, Silas has 46 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts to his credit with a career best finish of sixth at Chicagoland Speedway (September 2008) with additional top-10 performances of eighth at Kentucky Speedway (May 2008), Iowa Speedway (April 2008), Salem Speedway (April 2007 and April 2008) and Kentucky Speedway (July 2007) and a 10^th at USA International Speedway (March 2007) and DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2008). 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.

Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is their traditional stop at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana for the running of the Eddie Gilstrap Motors 200 by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday, September 13. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is set for 4:00 p.m. local time with the 18^th race of the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series scheduled to take the green flag at 7:15 p.m. local time.

For more on Bryan Silas please visit, BryanSilasRacing.com

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