LEXINGTON, Ohio: With five consecutive top-10 finishes, Greg Van Alst and his Greg Van Alst Motorsports team journey to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course looking to extend his streak to six in Friday night’s Dawn 150k.
With the strength of a career high five top-10 finishes in a single season to his credit and three straight finishes of eighth, the Anderson, Ind. native hopes to embrace his first career road course with a strong finish and a continued upward climb in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings.
“We are feeling good after the break,” said Van Alst. “It’s been a stretch for us, but thankfully we are in a good place with our Greg Van Alst Motorsports team and we are making gains with our overall program. Now, we are set to embrace our road course debut in hopes it will prepare us for an even stronger showing at Watkins Glen next month.”
With his bread and butter occurring on the blistering fast short tracks of Indiana and the surrounding states, Van Alst isn’t sure what to expect when it comes to turning left and right, but the seasoned veteran has taken the steps to help make his transition as seamless as possible.
“I feel like I’ve done all the traditional components of studying the race track, watching last year’s ARCA race, looking at the track map – everything that you feel like you can do to best prepare yourself. However, nothing beats actual track time and I have an hour on Friday to get myself acquainted with Mid-Ohio and hopefully in a good place for the race on Friday night.
To assist Van Alst towards recording his sixth top-10 of the 2022 ARCA Menards Series season, the team purchased a road course specific car from Chad Bryant Racing.
“Chad has been a huge asset to our organization,” added Van Alst. “We have purchased a fleet of race cars from Chad and he has been instrumental in assisting us with anything we may need.
“He wants us to go fast, but also succeed and to someone who is writing the next chapters with his former race cars that’s part of the family element that I love so much with the ARCA Menards Series. I don’t know if we will be as fast as his car on Friday night, but we’ll try and give them a run for their money.”
Chris Barkdull’s CB Fabricating, a longtime partner with Greg Van Alst Motorsports has boosted its commitment to the team and will continue its role as the primary marketing partner of Van Alst’s No. 35 Ford Fusion.
Headquartered in Anderson, Ind., CB Fabricating offers a complete list of fabricating from design, laser cutting, CNC punching, forming, welding, powder coating, and assembly.
Their 26,000-square-foot facility allows them to service the needs of many different industries. Everything from the Automotive, agricultural, aquatic, medical, transportation, electrical enclosures, and much more.
“A string of five consecutive top-10 finishes is the type of pace that will keep Chris and everyone on this team in it for the long haul. He continues to be excited about the path and longevity of our team and so am I. He is as optimistic as anyone else within our organization about our road course debut despite any hiccups we may face.
“With every race complete, it’s a small victory for our team knowing the large mountain that is still left to climb. I’m thankful to have the support of Chris and CB Fabricating.”
In addition to CB Fabricating, Top Choice Fence, Norton Transport, KRJ Race Products and Lintz Creative will serve as associate marketing partners for Van Alst’s 20th career ARCA start.
Entering Mid-Ohio, Van Alst sits a career-high fifth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings, four points out of fourth and 58 markers in the arrears to championship leader Rajah Caruth.
“Step by step and with a little luck, I hope we will soon find ourselves a part of the championship picture,” sounded Van Alst. “While top-10 finishes are strong efforts for us, we need to be competing for top-five runs on a consistent basis to have any shot at the championship. This is a tough series and we are still proud of where we are at.
“We still stay focused.”
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 Twitter (@GregVanAlst35).
For more on CB Fabricating, please visit CBFabricating.com and like them on Facebook (CB Fabricating).
The Dawn 150k (42 laps | 94.836 miles) is the ninth of 20 races on the 2022 ARCA Menards Series schedule. A combined final and qualifying session begins on Friday, July 8, 2022, from 2:00p.m. – 3:00 p.m. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM channel 391, online channel 981 managing the radio waves beginning at 5:00 p.m. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities. All times are local (ET).
