NOTEBOOK: Greg Van Alst’s new busy schedule begins with ARCA race at IRP

www.arcaracing.com August 10, 2023

The 2023 season has been one of incredible ups and unimaginable downs for Greg Van Alst.

The 42-year-old from Anderson, Indiana opened the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season with the biggest victory of his career at Daytona International Speedway to earn his first ARCA platform victory. That win has opened doors Van Alst never could have imagined, including his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut earlier this year at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Unfortunately, while the highs have been high, the lows have been just as low.

Eight weeks after his victory at Daytona, Van Alst’s father Bruce lost his battle with cancer. That, combined with crashes at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, led Greg Van Alst to take a step back from the ARCA Menards Series.

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“Really, I didn’t intend on not running a full season in ARCA,” Van Alst said. “With the passing of my father and getting wrecked a couple races in a row, I just kind of felt like I needed a break to regroup. It’s a busy time for our work, so I guess between work and grieving and racing, I had to take a step back from something.”

During his time away from the ARCA Menards Series, Van Alst has been able to enjoy time with his family while also taking the chance to grieve the passing of his father. It’s also allowed him to fulfill a lifelong dream by competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Alpha Prime Racing.

Greg Van Alst, driver of the #35 Vern’s Concrete-CB Fab-Sam Pierce Chevrolet Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the ARCA Daytona 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on February 18, 2023. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Greg Van Alst, driver of the No. 35 Vern’s Concrete-CB Fab-Sam Pierce Chevrolet Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the Daytona 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on February 18, 2023. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

This weekend, Van Alst will make his return to the ARCA Menards Series for the first time since May when he joins the field for the Reese’s 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park aboard his own No. 35 CB Fabricating Ford.

In addition, he’ll make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut aboard the No. 20 Chevrolet for Young’s Motorsports on Friday night at IRP.

“Like I said after winning Daytona, I knew it would change my life, I just didn’t know how,” Van Alst said. “I would have never dreamed that I would have ran two Xfinity races and am getting ready to pull double-duty at my home track in a Truck.

“Winning Daytona has changed everything.”

This opportunity with Young’s Motorsports in the Truck Series isn’t just a one-off. Thanks to sponsorship from CB Fabricating, Van Alst is scheduled to compete in the final seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events of the season for the team. That deal was announced Wednesday in advance of Friday’s ARCA and Truck Series events at IRP.

However, before he can get to the rest of the season, Van Alst has to get through Friday’s Reese’s 200 combination race for the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East as well as the TSport 200 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

“Really, in the ARCA car I hope to unload in the top five and race in the top five all night,” said Van Alst, who has experience at IRP in both the ARCA Menards Series and in a late model. “We’re taking the same car that we ran at Phoenix. It’s our home race track, so I feel like I’ve got home-field advantage, but we missed the setup there last year. We’re taking something totally different then what we took last year.

“In the Truck, they’re going to send Trucks home. We’re not 100 percent locked in. Goal No. 1 is to get through practice and qualifying and be in the show. Once we’re in the show, it’ll just be kind of see where things shake out, try not to take more than the truck will give me and just try to earn respect from the Truck Series competitors.”

Luke Fenhaus and William Sawalich during the General Tire 125 for the ARCA Menards Series East at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, on April 29, 2023. (Jason Garza/ARCA Racing)
Luke Fenhaus (28) and William Sawalich (18) during the General Tire 125 for the ARCA Menards Series East at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware, on April 29, 2023. (Photo: Jason Garza/ARCA Racing)

ARCA Menards Series East title fight down to Sawalich, Fenhaus

With three races left in the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East season, the battle for the championship is coming down to William Sawalich and Luke Fenhaus.

Entering Friday’s Reese’s 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Sawalich holds an 11-point advantage on Fenhaus. Both drivers have two East Series victories this year, but they’ve come under vastly different circumstances.

Sawalich opened the season with a flag-to-flag victory at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, a showing that established him as a championship contender. He added a second victory at Michigan’s Flat Rock Speedway in a race that saw him chase down and pass race-long leader Sean Hingorani in the final third of the race.

Fenhaus, meanwhile, has led a grand total of four laps during his two East Series victories this year, both of which have come at the expense of Sawalich. The first came at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, when Fenhaus got the better of Sawalich during an overtime restart. The second victory came in the last East Series event at Iowa Speedway, when Fenhaus again bested Sawalich during an overtime restart.

Following Friday’s event at IRP, only races at the Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 27) and Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 14) remain to decide the East Series champion.

D.L. Wilson returning from injury this Friday at IRP

The last time D.L. Wilson competed in an ARCA platform event, things didn’t end well.

Wilson, who is set to make his second ARCA start this year on Friday in the Reese’s 200, last raced with the ARCA Menards Series at Phoenix Raceway in March.

During a late-race restart, Wilson was involved in a multi-car crash that saw his No. 12 slam into the outside wall. He was transported to a local hospital as a result of the crash and was later diagnosed with multiple injuries, including a concussion and broken ribs.

Wilson began racing on the ARCA platform in 2018 at the age of 53. He’s made more than 30 starts in the ARCA Menards Series to date, earning a best finish of 10th at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in 2021.

NOTES:

  • Jesse Love has won six of the first 11 ARCA Menards Series races this season and will look to earn his seventh victory of the season Friday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Ty Gibbs also won six of the first 11 races during his championship season in 2021.
  • Toni Breidinger will look to continue a recent stretch of strong runs this weekend at IRP. She’s finished no worse than ninth in her last four ARCA Menards Series starts and has earned two top-five finishes at Berlin Raceway and Iowa Speedway.
  • Fast Track Racing enters Friday’s Reese’s 200 riding a wave of momentum after scoring three top-10 finishes at Michigan International Speedway last weekend. Friday at IRP the team owned by Andy Hillenburg will field cars for Zachary Tinkle, D.L. Wilson, Brayton Laster, Tim Monroe and Jon Garrett.