ARCA

Phillip McGilton Iowa preview

McGilton A Part Of Big Weekend In Iowa NEWTON, Iowa (Wednesday, October 11, 2006) - - The last race of the 2006 ARCA RE/MAX Series steers west for Phillip McGilton and the SI Performance to compete in the Prairie Meadows 250 from the brand new ...

Edited: Oct 12, 2006, 3:40 AM

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McGilton A Part Of Big Weekend In Iowa

NEWTON, Iowa (Wednesday, October 11, 2006) - - The last race of the 2006 ARCA RE/MAX Series steers west for Phillip McGilton and the SI Performance to compete in the Prairie Meadows 250 from the brand new Iowa Speedway, a track designed by NASCAR Nextel Cup Series icon Rusty Wallace.

Iowa marks the season finale for the SI Performance team and they plan to end their season with a flawless performance. The last couple of races have been far from perfect for the rookie team. A series of unfortunate and uncontrollable circumstances have kept the team down but not out. With the "never give up" attitude, the SI Performance is ready to put their No. 42 SI Performance-Gould's Electric Ford upfront and in contention for the win.

Last weekend at Talladega, McGilton started off strong, and appeared to be heading towards his restrictor plate debut, but the motor seized in qualifying putting them out of the starting lineup. This weekend, the team hopes the bad luck is behind them and light at the end of the tunnel.

"Obviously Talladega was full of mixed emotions," said McGilton. "We were very strong off the truck, but we couldn't control the mechanical end. That's racing. We've proved that we have a good team; we just need a little luck on our side. That's what we are looking for Sunday at Iowa."

The SI Performance team has utilized the open test sessions from ARCA to their advantage. Each time it has paid off. Before heading to Talladega, the team was one of more than 18 other drivers and teams that debuted at the 7/8 mile tri-oval.

McGilton posted the 12th fastest effort of the day with a fast time of 24.270 seconds at 129.790 mph. The team will bring back the same Ford Taurus they raced at Nashville Superspeedway in August. The car has proven to be strong and competitive, leaving the team with the same hopes for their Iowa debut.

"The Iowa race is going to be fun," added McGilton. "The track is very smooth and it's an incredible facility. It's an important race for us. We've had our fair share of ups and downs this season in ARCA and we would like nothing more than to close out the year with our best finish."

"It's been great having our sponsors with us this year," the driver said. "We've been able to give our sponsors some great runs this season, but unfortunately haven't had the finishes any of us deserve; we plan to put an end to that this weekend."

In addition to running the ARCA RE/MAX Series event this weekend, McGilton will also run the ASA (American Speed Association) late model event as another opportunity to gain experience on the race track and at Iowa Speedway.

"Running the ASA race will be a lot of fun," McGilton stated. "The ASA series is a name that everyone is familiar with. We're planning on running two races with the same goals, finish and win the race. I think we can do it."

Not only is it a big weekend for McGilton, but for crew chief and former driver Eric Jones. Jones, a native of Granger, Iowa is looking to do well in front of his hometown crowd. "Eric is really focused for this weekend. We all want to run good this weekend. It's not only our debut at Iowa Speedway; it's also our short track debut. We've some good experience on the bigger tracks; hopefully the transition to the smaller tracks will be just as successful," McGilton concluded.

McGilton will also spend time with the fans away from the track this week. On Friday night, he will make an appearance at the Checkered Flag Lighting store at CFL's Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, Iowa. Guests will register for the chance to test their racing skills on CFL's full motion stock car simulators against the ARCA RE/MAX drivers.

Rolling into Iowa, McGilton originally hailing from Ohio has five ARCA RE/MAX Series starts to his resume with a career best finish of ninth at Kansas Speedway (July 2006). He holds a career best superspeedway time trials effort of 15th at Kansas Speedway (July 2006) and Nashville Superspeedway (August 2006).

-credit: sip

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