KANSAS CITY, Kan: Greg Van Alst may not have a lot to show when it comes to finishing positions this season in the ARCA Menards Series, but that is a statistic he is determined to change in Saturday afternoon’s Dutch Boy 150 at Kansas Speedway.
The 2019 ARCA CRA champion invades Kansas after turning in another stunning performance last weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway – only to see his impressive showing end 15 laps from the finish after being eliminated by another competitor while running second in the General Tire 200.
While frustrated with the results of his return to the ARCA Menards Series in nearly two decades, Van Alst and his Jim Long-led team are also encouraged by the performance of their No. 35 CB Fabricating Chevrolet.
They, like everyone else though hope their luck will finally change in Kansas City.
“I’m extremely proud of Jim (Long) and the entire Greg Van Alst Motorsports team for their hard work this season and especially at Talladega last weekend,” said Van Alst.
“I think we proved that our Daytona performance wasn’t a fluke – we just, unfortunately, did not have the luck we needed to get to the checkered flag.
“Still, we are bringing fast race cars to the track and I think Kansas will be no different.”
Van Alst hasn’t competed on an intermediate track since 2002 when he last raced at Chicagoland (Ill.) Speedway and earned a career-best 15th place finish for Locke Motorsports. Now, 19 years later, Van Alst will race at Kansas – a 1.5-mile speedway with similar characteristics to Chicagoland — eyeing his first career top-10 finish.
“I can’t remember everything about Kentucky and Chicagoland in 2002, but I know I had a lot of fun,” added Van Alst. “The series and even race cars have changed a lot since then though. Thankfully, I have Jim and even Chad (Bryant of Chad Bryant Racing) whom we bought our intermediate car from have been a huge asset.
“I feel we are bringing an extremely competitive intermediate car and have the chance of earning our best finish of the year and give us some much-welcomed momentum into the summer stretch.”
With practice on deck, this weekend at Kansas, Van Alst and his team have a strict agenda.
“We are going to be pretty aggressive during practice,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of time, but we need to make sure our No. 35 CB Fabricating Chevrolet is handling well where we can get some good track position for early in the race.
“We have to stay on the lead lap during the first segment. We’ll make adjustments and just go hard the second half of the race and hope for the best. If all goes well, we will take what we learned at Kansas and apply it to Charlotte and see if we can’t continue to turn heads this season.”
CB Fabricating, a longtime partner with Greg Van Alst Motorsports has boosted its commitment to the team and will continue its role as the primary marketing partner of Van Alst’s No. 35 Chevrolet.
Headquartered in Anderson, Ind., CB Fabricating offers a complete list of fabricating from design, laser cutting, CNC punching, forming, welding, powder coating, and assembly.
Their 26,000 square foot facility allows them to service the needs of many different industries. Everything from the Automotive, agricultural, aquatic, medical, transportation, electrical enclosures, and much more.
“Without the support of Chris Barkdull and everyone at CB Fabricating, this chance to elevate our team to the next level would not have been possible,” added Van Alst. “We have set goals for ourselves this season and I believe we are aligning ourselves with the right people who can allow us to not only continue to turn heads at Kansas but throughout the 2021 season.”
In addition to CB Fabricating, Top Choice Fence, Norton Transport, KRJ Race Products and Lintz Creative will serve as associate marketing partners for Van Alst’s sixth career ARCA start.
Additional specifics on Greg Van Alst Motorsports’ 2021 ARCA Menards Series program are forthcoming, including a detailed series schedule.
For more on Greg Van Alst and Greg Van Alst Motorsports, please stay tuned for a new website, but like them on Facebook (Van Alst Motorsports) and follow him on Twitter (@GregVanAlst35).
For more on CB Fabricating, please visit CBFabricating.com and like them on Facebook (CB Fabricating).
The Dutch Boy 150 (100 laps | 150 miles) is the fourth of 20 races on the 2021 ARCA Menards Series schedule. Practice begins Sat., May 1 with an hour combined practice and qualifying session from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. The race is set to take the green flag shortly after 12:30 p.m. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), while ARCARacing.com will stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities. All times are local (CT).
