TALLADEGA, Ala.: So far, it’s a 100 percent record for Greg Van Alst.
No, the Anderson, Indiana native doesn’t have a win in the basket in the two opening races of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season. Still, the seasoned veteran ARCA driver heads to the breathtaking 2.66-mile superspeedway with the points lead and an optimistic approach to the season’s third race of the season.
Van Alst arrives in Talladega already lucky. While several teams were left scrambling to repair their race cars, build new ones, or perhaps even lease a race car from another ARCA operation, Van Alst was able to briefly put his No. 35 Greg Van Alst Motorsports Chevrolet in the corner without a Daytona scratch and prepare for 113 laps of action this weekend.
“I’m so ready to go,” said Van Alst, who holds a slight five-point advantage over Christian Rose and Andrés Pérez de Lara. “We were incredibly fortunate to leave Daytona with our car in one piece.
“It was a huge benefit to focus on the rest of our fleet and prepare for the upcoming season rather than preparing this primary car for a Talladega return.”
A year ago, Van Alst, who pulled off an upset victory in the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season-opener at Daytona, invaded Talladega with the championship lead. Unfortunately, an early race accident ripped him of control of the championship lead, and his racing season ultimately took a different direction.
Focused on the present and not the past, Van Alst returns to the “Cotton State,” ready to get back down to business and build on a track-best 11th-place finish achieved during the 2022 season.
“This is going to be my fourth trip to Talladega, and two of them have not gone as well as I had hoped,” explained Van Alst. “This is the same car that we had last year at Talladega. It got run over early in the race and destroyed the front end of our Chevrolet.
“We showed up to Daytona and still boasted the speed of our race car and I know we can go to Talladega this weekend and pick up right where we left off. Without the benefit of qualifying, we’ll be starting mid-pack, but I feel there will be some great cars that we’ll be able to attach with and hopefully head to the front,” Van Alst shared.
Zaki Ali (Injury & Criminal Trial Attorney; 1-888-649-1-ALI) has joined the winning ARCA Menards Series operation as the primary partner of the team’s No. 35 Chevrolet SS for the highly contested race on Saturday afternoon.
Five other companies have also pledged their support in hopes of Van Alst securing his second ARCA trophy,
including Bassin Habits, CB Fabricating, Lifeline Fire and Safety Systems, Norton Transport and Top Choice Fence.
“Zaki Ali, CB Fabricating, Bassin Habits, Lifeline Fire and Safety Systems, Norton Transport and Top Choice Fence have all been incredibly important in keeping our motorsports dream alive,” added Van Alst.
“Without these six companies, our participation in Saturday afternoon’s General Tire 200 would not have been possible. For me, there is only one way to thank them properly, putting them back in Victory Lane!”
Outside of focusing on his racing endeavors, this past weekend was memorable for the Van Alst family.
Van Alst’s son, 12-year-old Ryder Van Alst, made his Late Model debut at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway. The young man turned in an impressive performance on his home turf, registering a lead-lap top-five finish.
“Ryder did an amazing job, and this is just the beginning for him,” sounded the proud father. “Despite being so young, his feedback is good, and he showcases the same desire and potential that I did as a young racer.
“I look forward to his racing future and hope to be able to see him take over the ARCA reins one day.”
Since 2002, Van Alst has 40 ARCA Menards Series starts to his credit, one win, five top-five and 20 top-10 finishes.
For more on Greg Van Alst and Greg Van Alst Motorsports, please visit GregVanAlst.com, like them on Facebook (Van Alst Motorsports) and follow him on X | Twitter (@GregVanAlst35).
The General Tire 200 (76 laps | 202 miles) is the third of 20 races on the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Group practice is set for Fri., April 19, from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. The race is set for the following morning on Saturday, April 20 to take the green flag shortly after 11:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. ET). The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (XM channel 391 | online channel 981) handling the radio waves. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities.
