Grant pulled the BeasleyAllen.com race transporter into the North Carolina shop at 4 o’clock this morning, completing the 2200 mile round trip to Iowa. In between cross country hauls, Grant drove the BeasleyAllen ARCA car to a 3rd place at Iowa Speedway Saturday night before a national television audience and a huge crowd at the 7/8 mile track. More than 23,000 tickets to the Prairie Meadows 200 were sold in advance, and the fans from the midwest filled the rest of the seats before the green flag flew.

“I am extremely happy with our finish, as we were “junk” until qualifying. We were only 20th of 40 racers in the final practice Saturday.” Spotter Jeremy Lundy claimed that after the poor practice showing, the crew changed everything on the car except the driver. After making the wholesale changes to the car’s setup, Grant drove the car hard during the 2 lap qualifying session. “I really thought we would qualify in the 20s, but we were pleased to gain a 7th place starting position.”

Grant’s roomate, Tom Hessert from Cherry Hill New Jersey, won the race going away. “I am happy for Tom and we didn’t have anything for him. The car was so loose during the race that I almost lost the car several times and I had to manhandle the car. To post a podium finish when only 10 cars finished on the lead lap was satisfying. Once again, we have showed that when we don’t have a mechanical problem, we run at the top despite being a part-time, independent team.”

For more information and photos on the race, visit www.arcaracing.com .

Grant, Zach & Jim pulled into Iowa Speedway last evening, successfully completing the long trip from North Carolina. When they pulled out of the Concord shop Wednesday evening, Grant was being interviewed on Tommy Praytor’s “Inside Alabama Racing” program on WNSP radio in Mobile. During that show, Tommy was kind enough to remind Grant that most every other top level racer in the country was privately or commercially flying to Iowa (site of both ARCA and NASCAR truck races) or Chicago, where NASCAR Cup and Nationwide series are this weekend. Tommy reminded Grant that he was likely the only driver who would compete in a nationally televised race who would also be the transport driver. Grant’s response was that truck driving was just part of what is required to pursue his dream.

“BeasleyAllen provides sponsorship resources which allows us to lease the finest engines, build first class cars and hire top notch over the wall crews for races. While we may stay in hotels requiring flea repellent and we eat some of the finest hot dogs across the country, we have told BeasleyAllen that we use the sponsorship funds to make the car fast and to promote the firm. Everything beyond that is just fluff. I know there are a lot of racers who would be glad to be in my position and I know that my friends and BeasleyAllen are responsible for our success.”

RACE RIG PULLING OUT OF NORTH CAROLINA WEDNESDAY

Today will be relaxing compared to Saturday’s hectic schedule of technical inspection, on-track practice and the 200 lap race all being crowded into a few hours. Practice and qualifying times will be posted live Saturday at www.arcaracing.com, where the day’s complete schedule is posted now. The Prairie Meadows 200 race will be televised live Saturday at 8 p.m. CDT on Speed TV.

Zach, Jim & Grant will pull the BeasleyAllen.com race transporter from the North Carolina shop late this evening, heading to Des Moines Iowa for this weekend’s ARCA race. Speed TV will televise the race live Saturday at 8 pm CDT. Iowa Speedway, designed by retired Cup star Rusty Wallace is a 7/8 mile oval and is a favorite of both fans and racers. The facility is new and features a wide smooth racing surface and has a spacious, safe pit road.

BEASLEYALLEN.COM ARCA CAR BEING PREPPED FOR IOWA

Unlike most ARCA races, the Prairie Meadows 200 schedule is compressed into a 1 day show. The first of 2 short practice sessions begins at 10 am, with technical inspection and qualifying squeezed in before the drop of the green flag Saturday. Grant and the crew will be hustling all day making final adjustments and preparing the car for both qualifying and the race. Before the national television broadcast, practice and qualifying times can be accessed live through www.arcaracing.com which will also be providing race day updates.

If you think driving 4 hours to the beach with kids is bad, imagine being confined to the cab of a Kenworth truck, listening to Grant sing along with George Jones during a cross country journey. Grant, Zach & Jim will leave the North Carolina shop Saturday, heading to Iowa Speedway for a Monday test session. That race track, more than 1,100 miles from the race shop, will be the venue for the next ARCA race July 10th.

Although Grant and the crew were deeply disappointed by the mechanical failure at Michigan Speedway, they have been hard at work since returning to the North Carolina Shop. “We have inspected every wire and electrical connection in the car, looking for anything which could have caused the alternator to cease operation. We have replaced anything which looked iffy and we are determined to keep on working for a win. The BeasleyAllen.com ARCA car is going to victory lane this year, and hopefully it will be in Iowa. It will be a long trip for a one day test, just 2 weeks before we have to make the trip for the race, but I am determined to do everything possible to put us in the best position to win.”

PIT STOP AT MICHIGAN SPEEDWAY

The Iowa track is a state of the art facility designed by retired Cup star Rusty Wallace. It is 7/8 mile in length and has a wide racing surface with multiple racing “grooves” which usually results in lots of side by side racing and exciting competition. That race will be televised nationally on Speed TV.