Fresh off an astonishing third place finish in Monday’s General Tire GRABBER 100 at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds, ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards driver Gus Dean (@gusdean) returns to Salem Speedway for Saturday night’s Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic 200 by Meadow View / Salem Crossing looking for his second career win.
Competing at one of his favorite tracks on the ARCA circuit, Dean is hoping that carrying a special paint scheme recognizing his car owner Kevin Cywinski’s success in his early years of Late Model competition will produce the magic for Dean to celebrate in Victory Lane with his retro No. 32 GREE Cooling Products Toyota Camry.
“I can’t wait to get back to Salem,” said Dean who idles fourth in the championship standings with four races remaining in 2017. “The last three weeks have been unique for me. From a dirt track to a road course to another dirt track. It’s been a little overwhelming, so I’m eager to get back to some familiar territory and put this special Kevin Cywinski-paint scheme in the winner’s circle.”
Dean’s GREE race car will sport Cywinski’s ride from his 1993 Late Model season where Cywinski raced across the Midwest with sponsorship from Valvoline and routinely found himself in Victory Lane.
Nearly two and a half decades later, Dean wants to bring that thrill back of Cywinski from his hey-day to Dean’s first win under the Win-Tron Racing banner.
“Our No. 32 GREE Toyota looks awesome with Kevin’s old colors,” added Dean. “I appreciate GREE allowing us to change our paint scheme up a little bit this weekend to participate in Salem’s throwback weekend. I know the car (colors) bring back a lot of emotion for Kevin and it would be really cool if we can make more memories with a win Saturday night.”
Cywinski is honored that his development driver Dean chose to honor him.
“It means a lot to me,” said Cywinski. “When Gus showed me the car, I couldn’t believe it. He worked with my wife (Traci) on getting all the details on what the car looked like to make it identical. It does. Gus even surprised me when he put my name over the door. Hopefully, we have a good night at one of his favorite race tracks.”
Dean, the Bluffton, S.C. native will make his second start at Salem’s high-banks this weekend. In April, Dean nearly pulled off an upset after getting spun early in the race and recovered to earn a season-high second place finish.
Bringing back the same car he earned one of his six top-five finishes this season, Dean is hopeful his Todd Myers-led team can enjoy similar success under the Saturday night Salem lights.
“We’ve circled this race as one of those opportunities where we feel we can really shine,” added Dean. “I love Salem. It’s a beast, but I love it. Its unique layout with its tough mentality is something that fits my driving style. We contended for a win at Winchester last a month, a track like Salem, but got trapped on a late race restart behind a car that had an issue and had to settle for fifth.
“This weekend, we’re hoping that we can keep the luck on our side and take GREE back to Victory Lane.”
With four races remaining and in a solid place when it comes to the SCOTT Rookie of the Year title, Dean says he is prepared to just run his race and hope the door opens to end his first full season on a high note.
“It’s been a good year,” offered Dean. “A win or two will make it a great year. I think we can make it happen. We’re really put a lot of attention with our short track program and I know the guys have been working hard in the shop to make sure we have the speed to compete on the final three intermediate tracks.
“We really want to end the season on a high note so we can carry that momentum into the offseason and prepare for the 2018 season.”
In 23 career 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 six top-five and 16 top-10 finishes and has led 37 laps in ARCA competition.
The Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic 200 by Meadow View / Salem Crossing (200 laps / 100 miles) is the 17th of 20 races on the 2017 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Sat., Sept. 9 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying is set for later in the day at 4:00 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag shortly after 7:15 p.m. The event will be tape-delayed on MAVTV, while ARCARacing.com will stream live timing and scoring throughout the day’s activities. All times are local (ET).
For more on Gus Dean, please visit his all new website at GusDean.com or like him on Facebook.
Dean tweets too. Follow him on Twitter @GusDean.
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