After a rough start to his 2017 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season, driver Gus Dean and his Win-Tron Racing have soldiered to three consecutive top-10 finishes entering Saturday night’s Shore Lunch 250 at Elko (Minn.) Speedway.
Finishes of second at Salem (Ind.) Speedway, sixth at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and a seventh two weeks ago at Toledo Speedway have propelled the Bluffton, S.C. native from a season-low 32nd in the series standings to his current placement of fourth after five races.
The team’s hard work led by veteran crew chief Todd Myers has also leaped Dean to the top of the ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year standings by a mere two points over fellow competitor and friend Bret Holmes.
Looking to ride the momentum train for another weekend, Dean heads to Elko Speedway for his track debut at a tight and combative 3/8-mile short track hoping for another strong finish, but more importantly, his second career ARCA win.
“It’s been a good couple weeks for us,” said Dean. “We’ve been working hard at the shop and at the racetrack to keep our No. 32 GREE Cooling Products Toyota in contention. We’ve been solid and we’re improving each week. We’re five races in and I’m happy with the direction that we’re going.”
Known for his short track craft around the east coast, Dean is hoping that his niche for tight quarters and hard side-by-side racing will prove to be beneficial for his 13th career ARCA start.
“I love racing in general, but I’ve built my career on short track racing,” Dean added. “I’ve never been to Elko, but I’ve heard a lot about it and it’s also considered one of the hometown tracks for my car owner Kevin (Cywinski), so I’m leaning on him a bunch this weekend.
“I’d like to think with his guidance and the setup that we’re going with – we’re one of the favorites for Saturday night’s race.”
Cywinski, once considered a short track phenom in the Midwest says he’s looking forward to seeing ARCA return to the grassroots of Elko and feels that Dean will adapt quickly to the track’s unique layout.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Elko this weekend,” offered Cywinski. “I certainly have a lot of memories there and we’ll have a lot of friends and family to cheer us on. Gus has been incredibly focused and I think his eagerness to contend for race wins will be to our advantage on Saturday.
“I know we’re bringing a good car and hopefully like Gus said we can keep our finishes pointed in the right direction.”
With much of the season still on the horizon, 22-year-old Dean feels his nod to compete for the championship title is still realistic.
“We’re not giving up yet,” says Dean. “It’s what GREE signed up to do and it’s the one thing I’ve dreamed about since knowing I was going to compete in ARCA full time. We have a great team with a lot of determined guys and some brand news cars that will get on track soon and I’m hoping that will be enough to keep us moving up the points ladder and maybe even eventually the top.”
In 12 ARCA Racing Series starts, Dean captured his first career victory in his second ever start at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway after starting second in Apr. 2016. Overall, Dean has two top-five and six top-10 finishes and has led 21 laps in ARCA competition.
The Shore Lunch 250 (250 laps / 94 miles) is the sixth of 20 races on the 2017 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Sat., June 3 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying is set for later in the day at 5:00 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag later that night shortly after 8:00 p.m. The event will be broadcasted live on MAVTV, while ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the day’s activities. All times are local (CT).
Win-Tron/Gus Dean PR
