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.

For the 2nd time in 4 ARCA starts this year, mechanical gremlins bit the BeasleyAllen.com car, terminating a great run at Michigan International Speedway Friday evening. Grant & Howard Bixman made the decision to forgo a high qualifying position by setting the car up for long runs, and that strategy worked to perfection. Grant knew the car would be very loose during the first few laps, counting on the car settling in for long runs. “The car was scary loose but very fast. I could eat up cars during the turns and could pass cars high, low and in the middle. The car was a handful to drive but fun to race.”

Grant started the 200 mile race in 17th place and by the time of the first caution, just over 30 laps into the race, had advanced to 5th place. The BeasleyAllen.com car was the fastest car on the track and the Speed TV commentators noted that Grant would likely be one of the contenders at the end of the race. However, coming off turn 2 shortly after the pit stop, Grant reported the engine quit running. He noticed there was no voltage being produced and slowly rolled into the pits while the rest of the field blew past at more than 170 miles per hour. The pit crew changed the battery, located under the left rear wheel well, in less than 5 minutes but that put Grant 4 laps down. He decided to go back on the track even though he knew he had no real chance to win the race. When he got back up to speed, he again became the fastest car on the track. Shortly after that, Grant noticed that the battery was not being charged, leading he and Howard to realize the alternator was really dead. Grant then took the car to the garage.

PIT STOP AT MICHIGAN SPEEDWAY FRIDAY

“We did everything we were supposed to do. The crew performed perfectly. I drove the car from a middle of the pack starting position to the front. Racing parts are under incredible stress and sometimes they just fail. I am disappointed but know that what happened was outside our control. We will be ready for the next race at Iowas July 10th. I appreciate my entire crew coming in from all over the country and working so well.”

Grant knew during practice yesterday that the BeasleyAllen.com would not qualify well at Michigan Speedway unless he changed the set up on the car. However, he reported to crew chief Howard Bixman that once he ran 10 laps on new tires, the car was perfectly balanced and the timers showed the car to be as fast as any of the competitors. The decision was made to qualify in race trim and Grant radioed that the car was driving just as it had in practice, requiring him to work hard to keep the car from breaking loose and heading toward the wall. That resulted in a qualifying time 17th of the 42 ARCA teams.

“If we can make it through the first few laps without wrecking, we have a good race car. I like this big track which has multiple grooves and if everyone will start cleanly, we can move through the field.”

An approaching weather front has everyone’s eyes on the sky, in anticipation of the scheduled 4 pm CDT start for Speed TV this afternoon. Michigan Speedway does not have sufficient covered garage areas in the pits for Cup, Truck and ARCA cars to be pitted at the same time. The ARCA teams were required to move the haulers outside the track for Cup transporters to enter the garage Thursday evening. The ARCA cars and pit/crash carts are on the grid, covered and ready for today’s race. If weather postpones the race until tomorrow, it will be a giant mess and logistical nightmare arranging race cars and equipment, as the next opportunity to run the race will be Saturday morning.

Check in with www.arcaracing.com this afternoon for weather/scheduling updates.

Grant & the entire race crew entered the Michigan International Speedway gates at 7 am Eastern time this morning, to begin a hectic day of garage work and track practice. That crew included spotter Jeremy Lundy who worked all day Wednesday at the Pascagoula Mississippi Chevron refinery, flew to Detroit last night and arrived at his hotel room at 3 a.m. this morning. “Grant found the smallest, most remote “hotel” for us to enjoy our Michigan experience” Jeremy noted through sleepy eyes.. “The place is in the middle of nowhere and reminded me of a scene from a horror movie crossed with CSI. I hope that I can stay awake on top of the spotter’s tower this morning.”

BEASLEYALLEN.COM IN TECH LINE WEDNESDAY AT MICHIGAN

Although Grant tested at the Michigan track last month, crew chief Howard Bixman won’t know what adjustments need to be made to the car until Grant takes the BeasleyAllen.com ARCA car up to full speed this morning on the 2 mile low banked oval. It is amazing that the same car, with the same setup, can perform differently on the same track on different days. Ideally, Grant and the crew will find a qualifying setup quickly and then use the rest of the limted practice time to dial in race set ups.

You can access the practice times of Grant and the entire ARCA field during the practice session which is set for 9 a.m. through 11 a.m. Central time today. Today’s qualifying runs, which begin at 2 p.m Central time, can also be accessed through www.arcaracing.com This afternoon’s qualifying will set the field for tomorrow’s 200 mile race which will be televised by Speed at 4 pm Central time.