Solid Test Propels Gus Dean, GREE Racing To Pocono Return

Story By: WIN-TRON RACING – LONG POND, PA – On the heels of their fourth consecutive top-10 finish this past weekend at Elko (Minn.) Speedway, Gus Dean treks to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in search of not only another top-10 finish, but his second career ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards victory in Friday evening’s General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200.

With a quick turnaround from the shortest track on the circuit to one of the longest, the team made a speedy return to their Mooresville, N.C. race shop.

In a span of fewer than 24 hours, they switched out their No. 32 GREE Cooling Products Toyota Camrys and made roughly the nine-hour trip to the Tricky Triangle for an open-test at the 2.5-mile speedway Wednesday.

Mother Nature, however, soaked the facility on Tuesday night forcing teams to spend most of Wednesday waiting for the track to dry. Just shy of 2:00 p.m., the track was open for business with crew chief Todd Myers electing to focus much of the test on aerodynamics – rather than typical race weekend protocol.

But when Myers switched to their race package shortly before the conclusion of the shortened test, Dean whipped his No. 32 GREE Cooling Products to the fourth quickest lap overall – giving him an added boost to what has been a solid month and a half for his Win-Tron Racing team.

“It’s unfortunate that Mother Nature kept us on the sidelines for much of the day on Wednesday, but I feel pretty good about our No. 32 GREE Cooling Products Toyota for Friday,” said Dean who enters the seventh race of the season fifth in series’ points.

“The car felt really good. It was very comfortable. This is a brand new car for us, which I’m really excited about. Hopefully, we can keep up with the expected pace on Friday and have another really strong run for everyone at GREE.”

Making his return to trip to Pocono, Dean sets sight on bettering a 15th place finish after starting 11th last July. While an unforeseen brake issue hindered his ability to contend for a top-10 finish, the track time he embraced was priceless.

“The more I get laps around the Pocono, the better I’m getting,” Dean said. “I still have some areas to work on. In particular, we were really good in Turns 1 and 2 and the Tunnel Turn – but we have some work to do in Turn 3. We really need that rotation coming out of Turn 3 that will help me accelerate down the frontstretch.

“We made gains though and that’s positive. I felt like during the test we took steps forward instead of backward. If we can do that during practice and qualifying on Friday, we’re going to be in good shape for the race.”

Speaking of taking steps forward, the Bluffton, S.C. native says the leaps his Win-Tron Racing has taken since two disgruntled finishes to open the 2017 ARCA season has been motivation for him to make sure he’s doing his job inside the car.

“Todd (Myers, crew chief) and all the guys are really having a lot of fun,” added Dean. “They know that going out there and contending for the win is top priority – but they’re having fun at the shop and at the racetrack. Every race we’re learning something that will make us better for the next one.

“As long as we can continue to do that – I think we’ll stay in this championship battle. There’s still a long way to go.”

In 13 ARCA Racing Series starts, Dean captured his first career victory in his second ever start at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway after starting second in Apr. 2016. Overall, Dean has three top-five and seven top-10 finishes and has led 21 laps in ARCA competition.

The General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 (80 laps / 200 miles) is the eighth of 20 races on the 2017 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Fri. June 9 with an hour and 25-minute practice session planned from 9:30 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. General Tire pole qualifying is set for later in the day at 2:00 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag later that day shortly after 5:30 p.m. The event will be broadcasted live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), while ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the day’s activities. All times are local (ET).