McGilton; SI Performance Racing Say Bring On Chicagoland
McGilton; SI Performance Racing Say Bring On Chicagoland JOLIET, Ill (Wednesday, September 6, 2006) - - After just missing the show at Michigan International Speedway a few weeks ago, SI Performance Racing with driver Phil McGilton and crew chief Eric Jones have regrouped with determination and head to Chicagoland Speedway looking for an influential rebound in Saturday’s SK Hand Tool 200. The team unloaded a brand new Ford Fusion at Michigan, but the team was unable to gain a grip on the two-mile oval putting them out of the starting lineup. “It’s unfortunate missing a race, but that’s part of the game,�?? driver McGilton recalled. “By missing the race, we were able to head back to the shop and really concentrate on this race, I think we have all the bugs worked out and we should be good to go.�?? Despite the hiccup at Michigan, the SI Performance Racing team has enjoyed a solid limited ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. In four races this season, the team scored their first top-ten finish at Kansas Speedway in July with McGilton crossing the line ninth. Now, the team is eager for another top-ten finish and it can easily come this weekend at Chicagoland. On August 29th, McGilton participated in the ARCA open test session at Chicagoland Speedway and the team’s results were impressive. During the eight-hour session, the No. 42 SI Performance Ford posted a competitive lap of 31.770 seconds at 169.972 mph good enough for tenth quickest on the sheets. “The Chicago test was a success,�?? added McGilton. “It was the first time I seen the track and it reminded me a lot like Kansas and Kentucky and we ran well at both tracks this season. I have a good feeling that we’ll unload stronger this week than at the test and we have a good chance of putting our No. 42 upfront.�?? Crew chief Eric Jones, a former ARCA RE/MAX Series driver agreed with his rookie driver. “We have a lot of confidence after the test. We spent the entire day mixing around with the setups and I think we nailed on something. Philip really seems to click at these tracks. We ran very competitive at Kansas, a track with similar characteristics to Chicagoland, so we all have high hopes for the race.�?? The car the team utilized at the test and plans to use for the race is a brand new machine to their stable recently purchased from Bob Schacht Motorsports. “The Ford Taurus we bought from Bob is a good racecar,�?? continued McGilton. “Bob has a great track record on and off the track in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and he has been a great help to this team. His cars consistently run in the top-ten and we know we can continue that tradition on Saturday.�?? The SI Performance Racing team will utilize an in-car camera for his debut at the 1.5-mile speed plant and McGilton is eager about it. “This is one of the coolest opportunities available to us in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. We are looking forward to providing the race fans with a bird’s-eye view from inside the racecar. It’s also a great marketing tool for our sponsors. Hopefully everything can go our way and we’re able to leave the track with something to talk about.�?? SI Performance and Gould’s Electric will return as sponsors of the No. 42 Ford Taurus for the sixth ARCA race held at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend. SI Performance is a mixture between a speed shop, off-road shop and a vehicle customization shop. SI Performance strives for their shop to exceed every expectation you might have for an automotive performance shop. SI Performance installs everything they sell, including quality products from WARN, Tera Manufacturing, Interco, Pit Bull, Holley, FK Rod Ends, Impact, Simpson, Demon, NOS and Banks. Gould's Electric Motor Repair, Inc. has been serving the mining and heavy industrial industries since 1976. Their facilities consist of over 35,000 square feet of space containing state of the art machinery and equipment which enables them to produce the highest quality new and rebuilt electric motors in the industry. Rolling into Chicago, McGilton originally hailing from Ohio has four 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). The SI Performance Team is still actively seeking additional primary and associate sponsors for it’s entry in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for the remainder of the 2006 season and the full 2007 racing season. Interested parties are urged to contact the team at _sama@si-performance.com_ (mailto:sama@si-performance.com) . After Chicagoland, the team will have a week to prepare for their short track debut at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana for the Indiana _Eddie Gilstrap Motors ARCA Fall Classic by Advance Auto Parts_ (http://www.arcaracing.com/component/option,com_schedule/task,view/id,1043/Itemid,147/) . “Salem is going to be fun,�?? McGilton added. “I’ve heard a lot about Salem and it’s going to be a great experience for our race team. We’re taking the car we competed with at Nashville Superspeedway last month. We know that it won’t come back as clean as it did in that race, but we’re looking forward to a little beating and banging.�?? Following Chicagoland, the SI Performance Team is scheduled to run in three more ARCA RE/MAX Series events at Salem Speedway (September), Talladega Superspeedway (October) and the new Iowa Speedway (October). The team is utilizing the 2006 season to get their feet wet in ARCA competition before pulling together a more intense racing schedule next year. The SK Hand Tool 200 (134 laps/200 miles) is the 20th of 23 events on the 2006 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. Practice begins Friday, September 8th with a two hour (1:30pm-3:30pm) session planned. Pork pole qualifying is on tap later that afternoon (5:30pm). The race is set to take the green flag the next day. SPEED will have live coverage of the event Saturday, September 9th beginning at 1:00pm. In addition to SPEED, _arcaracing.com_ (http://www.arcaracing.com/) will have all the latest news and results from the track. For more information on SI Performance, please visit _http://www.si-performance.com_ (http://www.si-performance.com/) For further input on Gould’s Electric please visit _http://www.gouldselectric.com_ (http://www.gouldselectric.com/) ### CONTACT: NAME: Chris Knight, SI Performance Motorsports PHONE: 734-660-2333 EMAIL: _Knight849@aol.com_ (mailto:Knight849@aol.com) NAME: Sam Africano, SI Performance Motorsports PHONE: 618-889-5485 EMAIL: _sama@si-performance.com_ (mailto:sama@si-performance.com)