The BeasleyAllen.com ARCA crew arrived at Chicagoland Speedway before dawn Friday and changed the race engine, carburetor, fuel cell, fuel pump and all fuel lines. Grant had noticed, during Thursday afternoon’s practice, that something was not right with the engine and a gas delivery problem was suspected. After the fuel issue was addressed, an inspection of the engine oil revealed small metal shavings, indicating possible engine problems. “Our crew was incredible. Howard, Jim, Don, Darin, Jeremy, Zac, Josh and George worked as fast anyone could to change out the engine and other components. We started work at 6 a.m. and I was on the track for a few minutes of practice at 8:45. I’ll take this volunteer crew over the hired help of any other ARCA team.”

Grant posted a decent qualifying time, gaining a starting position of 8th among 39 racers. The race was eventful early with a big lap 7 wreck just ahead of Grant. Casey Roderick, who started 3rd, hit the outside wall on the back stretch. His careened across the track, hitting Mikey Kile’s car which then hit 7th place starter Chad McCumbee. “I can’t believe we missed the wreck and I thought I had flat spotted the tires, because I had to stomp on the brakes.” Grant weaved his way throught he spinning cars, emerging unscathed in 4th place.

Grant was in 3rd place with 20 laps to go and was closing on the leaders and thought he might pull off the big win. He had pulled to the bumper of 2nd place Steve Arpin’s car when a late caution flag flew, restarting the race with only 10 laps to go. “My car tightened up and while I could catch Arpin, I could not pass him. The car was aero-tight around the Arpin car and we had to settle for 3rd place.” Grant was more than 25 laps ahead of 8 time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel when the checkered flag flew.

The BeasleyAllen ARCA car posted only the 15th fastest time among the 40 competitors during practice at Chicagoland Speedway Thursday afternoon. “The car was fast on old tires but was slower taped up with fresh rubber. That has us concerned. Howard & the crew will adjust the car during the 1 hour practice this morning”

After that session, the crew will be making final adjustments before qualifying which takes place at 11:30 am CDT. The 6 pm race will be televised live on Speed TV. Live scoring of qualifying & the race will be on www.arca.com.

Grant & Zach are driving the race rig to Chicago from Charlotte today, while crew members Jeremy & Chris are flying from the gulf coast. They will meet crew chief Howard Bixman, Jim and the rest of the crew who are driving from their Michigan homes to rendevous at Chicagoland Speedway tonight. They will get a good night’s sleep before the hectic race days which culminate in Friday evening’s ARCA race.

Thursday will a long day of safety and technical inspections before a short practice session late that afternoon. The final pre-race practice will be early Friday morning, leading to mid day qualifying before the 6 p.m. race. The race will be televised nationally on Speed Channel.

Grant finished 2nd at Chicago last year, by less than a car length, and is determined to have another good run for the race which is likely the last ARCA event he will run this year. Last year’s performance and last week’s test session will form the basis for the practice set up. The crew hopes the “out of the trailer” performance is good, as on track practice is very limited. For more details on the race days, and for live timing of the practice and qualifying sessions Thursday and Friday, visit www.arcaracing.com .

Grant, crew chief Howard Bixman, along with crew members Zac, Jim and Don put in a full day at Chicagoland Speedway Thursday. Everyone on the team was pleased with the car’s performance, with Grant posting the 5th fastest time of 20 competitors at the 1 1/2 mile oval. “The car’s performance on long “race runs” was great. We weren’t the fastest car when taped up for a mock qualifying trial, but the car seemed to handle well. The best thing about the day was that we made the car quicker as we went, with adjustments making the car better each time we came into the garage.

Grant, Zac and Jim drove a few hours Thursday evening, before stopping for a good night’s sleep. They will be back in North Carolina later today, before a long weekend of work begins. They will be taking measurements on many points of the car to get a baseline to begin when they return to Chicago next week. They will do final work on both the primary and backup cars and make sure they have all necessary tools and parts for the race next week. That race, to be nationally televised on Speed TV, will start at 6 pm CDT next Friday August 27th.

Grant, Zac & Jim pulled into Chicago at midnight Wednesday after the long haul from North Carolina. They are meeting crew chief Howard Bixman at Chicagoland Speedway this morning for a full day of testing at the 1 1/2 mile high banked oval. This is an open ARCA test which means that most ARCA teams will be testing their cars in preparation for next week’s big race. While Grant finished 2nd at Chicago last year, every team tries new set ups, and pushes the envelope to improve performance. Grant and the crew have made what they hope are improvements to the car, but they won’t know if the long hours of work will pay off until the car is on the pavement.

After today’s test, the crew will head back to the North Carolina shop to make final adjustments to the car if today’s test goes well. If the car does not perform as expected today, Grant will consult his notes, then follow Jethro’s lead and do some “ciphering” to figure out what to do next. He won’t have much time to make set up decisions as both the primary and backup cars must be finalized and loaded, along with extensive equipment and tools, by Tuesday to head back to the Windy City.

Next Friday’s race will be televised live on Speed TV at 6 p.m. CDT. More information on the race can be found at www.arcaracing.com .