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| Silas Roars to Top -10 Finish in Lakeland | LAKELAND FL (3-28-07)--The testing paid off. Those four words speak for itself as ARCA RE/MAX Series Rookie Bryan Silas scored his first top-10 finish of his young career Saturday night in the Construct Corps-Palm Beach Grading 250 at USA International Speedway.
Silas, driving for renowned ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Andy Hillenburg had been preparing for the inaugural RE/MAX Series event at the three-quarter mile track for the past three months. Private testing sessions and a United Speed Alliance Racing (USAR) Hooter's Pro Cup event under his belts, the Stuart, Florida native knew he had an advantage over the rest of his competition.
The weekend started off in a positive direction for the No. 11 Nortrax-Holland Pump-Palm Beach Grading Chevrolet Monte Carlo. After tackling the 18th fastest lap in the first practice session, the team made additional adjustments hoping to find some speed for the rookie.
Continuing to post solid lap times in the second practice leading up to ARCA pole qualifying, the Fast Track Racing team knew they had a competitive car for the second event of the season.
Qualifying yielded a mid-pack starting position for Silas after posting a lap of 22.658 seconds at 119.163 MPH lining him 18th on the grid. "We have a good car," said a confident Silas. "I am so proud of my Fast Track Racing team. They have worked their butts off making sure this car is perfect. This race is so crucial to us and everyone is doing their part, it's a great feeling."
At the start of the 250-lap event, Silas immediately began slicing and dicing his way towards the front. The competition was fierce from the start with Silas having a neutral racecar to work his way through the pack.
Silas showed his talent during a mid pack incident when the leader Bobby Santos III was involved in an incident forcing the rookie driver to take abrasive action to miss several spinning and mingled cars around him. He emerged unscathed.
The remainder of the event saw Silas hover cleanly inside the top-10 and miss a last lap, last corner spinning machine of Patrick Sheltra to cross the line 10th, notching a career best finish in only his eighth start.
"This is great, absolutely great," said the jubilant driver following the event. "We had a really good night. The car was good, the guy did a flawless job in the pits, we stayed out of the mess and we finished inside the top-10. I'm so happy. It's a great confidence booster for me."
Silas, who finished on the lead lap completing 253 (race was extended by three laps following a green-white-checkered finish) markers continued, "I am so proud of my Fast Track Racing team. They are awesome. I am a lucky driver to be able to work such a talented bunch. Andy (Hillenburg) has taken a chance on me and we're really starting to make the magic work, I can't wait to get to Nashville."
Before Saturday's event at USA International Speedway, the avid late model competitor's previous best finish was 16th at Toledo Speedway last September. Now, the rookie scored a top-10 finish not only in the first ever event held in Lakeland, but also a race sponsored by Palm Beach Grading, the primary sponsor of Silas's No. 11 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
"Everything worked out. We had a great night and Palm Beach Grading was thrilled with the performance. We had Nortrax and Holland Pump on board as well and the finish helps us show we have what it takes to run up front. It was a great race for everyone involved."
With his impressive performance on Saturday night, Silas soared from 23rd to eighth in the championship standings just 110 points off leaders Justin Allgaier and Frank Kimmel.
Next up for the ARS (ARCA RE/MAX Series) is the first of two trips to Nashville Superspeedway this season. The Nashville ARCA 150 is set for Saturday, April 7, serving the first of a double-header event with the NASCAR Busch Series at the Lebanon, Tennessee based track.
For more on Bryan Silas, please visit BryanSilasRacing.com
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