KANSAS CITY, Kan: On the heels of a strong sixth-place finish in the postponed Rust-Oleum Automotive Finishes 100 at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds, Greg Van Alst and his team journey back to Kansas Speedway riding a strong wave of ARCA Menards Series momentum.
The delivery of Van Alst’s ninth top-10 finish of the year, Du Quoin provided his best ARCA Menards Series effort since finishing fifth at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May.
Returning to a track with similar characteristics, Van Alst is eager for the green flag at Kansas Speedway on Saturday evening and continue building his solid foundation and yield his fifth top-10 effort in the last seven races.
“I’m really proud of my Greg Van Alst Motorsports team,” said Van Alst. “Du Quoin was a difficult race. The track was extremely rough and it seemed like only the extremely tough survived. It wasn’t easy for us – but we had a plan and we stuck to it and now we’re heading to Kansas Speedway feeling good and ready to add another top-10 to our 2022 tally.”
Kansas Speedway will always be a special race track for the Anderson, Ind. native. The 1.5-mile speedway nestled just outside of Kansas City, Kansas is the site of Van Alst’s first career top-10 finish in ARCA Menards Series competition in 2021 and has since produced two top-10 finishes in three races overall.
In the final intermediate track of the season, Van Alst is hungry to up the ante on the bigger track and duplicate his success from Charlotte earlier this season and deliver his all-volunteer team it’s second top-five run of 2022.
“The competition is strong right now, especially in the top-five,” added Van Alst. “I felt like over the summer we have made vast improvements with our team, but there is still more work to be done. We won’t give up for Kansas or the upcoming races at Bristol, Salem and Toledo.
“Four races provide four opportunities for us to go out there and prove we can run with some of the more well-funded teams but also do it respectfully while having a shot at contending for hopefully our first series win by the time the checkered flag falls next month.”
In the heart of the homestretch of the 2022 ARCA Menards Series season, Van Alst is already thinking ahead to 2023 – but doesn’t want to shy away from what is still at stake for this season.
“Every race is an opportunity for us and we don’t take that lightly. We finished seventh at Kansas in the spring and it’s important for us to do better than run on Saturday night.
“Last fall, I’ll admit that we were out to lunch, we struggled. However, we bounced back in May and I am confident that we can build on that finish even more Saturday night and show everyone how much we have grown as a team over the last several months.
“I can’t wait to get in the car on Saturday morning.”
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.
“We were wet on Monday night at Du Quoin, but with the positive attitude of such an important race for us, we are accelerating forward over the next month to cap off our first full season of competition on a high note,” expressed Van Alst.
“And none of it would be possible with the continued and constant support of Chris. The consistency we have shown over the last two months is the type of pace that will keep Chris and everyone on this team in it for the long haul – including the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season.
“With every race complete, even if it is not the finish we are hoping for, it’s a small victory for our team knowing the large mountain that is still left to climb to celebrate in Victory Lane. Kansas can be a test of man versus machine and can be somewhat of a wild card race, but I’m thankful and the team is extremely appreciative 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 28th career ARCA start.
Entering Kansas, Van Alst sits a career-high fourth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings, 108 markers in the arrears to championship leader Nick Sanchez.
“Step by step, we will do everything we can to catch the top three,” sounded Van Alst. “No question they have been the three strongest cars all year, It’s not going to come without some luck and strong finishes, but we are not going to go down without a fight. This is a tough series and we are still proud of where we are at.
“We gained a little bit of ground on Rajah. However, we will stay focused on these last four races of 2022 and see what unravels.”
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 Kansas ARCA 150 (100 laps | 150 miles) is the 17th of 20 races on the 2022 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice begins on Saturday, September 10, 2022, from 9:15 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. General Tire pole group qualifying kicks off at 10:00 a.m. The event will be televised live on MAVTV and FloRacing beginning at 6:00 p.m. CT | 7:00 p.m. ET. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities. All times are local (CT).
