McGilton Ready For Talladega Thunder
McGilton Ready For Talladega Thunder TALLADEGA, Ala (Tuesday, October 3, 2006) – With just two races remaining in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, rookie Phillip McGilton (pronounced McJilton) heads to Talladega Superspeedway this week hoping to get on a train of momentum that will roll over into the 2007 season. With a newly paved Superspeedway and a brand new short track (Iowa Speedway) left on McGilton’s plate for the season, his concentration this week is on his Talladega debut behind the wheel of the No. 42 SI Performance-Gould’s Electric Chevrolet. McGilton will look to make his sixth ARCA RE/MAX Series start in one of the tensest events of the season. Talladega also known as restrictor plate racing is full of 41 cars inches a part at speeds nearing 200 mph. With no prior experience at the 2.666-mile facility, the SI Performance Racing team recently participated in the open test in preparation for Friday’s Food World 250. Unofficially, McGilton tackled the speedway with a time of 51.170 seconds at 187.141 mph putting him a solid eighth on the charts. A good start to what is expected to be a strong week for the team. “The test went really well,�?? said McGilton. “It was the first time I’ve seen this place in person and it was breathtaking. We were pretty good right off the truck and we only continued to improve as the day progressed. We have a great package for the race, so everyone on the team is excited about what Friday could hold.�?? The SI Performance Racing team will once again utilize an in-car camera for Talladega and McGilton is eager about it. “We had the camera at Chicagoland and we were really in the spotlight,�?? McGilton recalled. “There was a lot of close incidents that we avoided before our incident, but it provided the fans a good sense of really how close the competition is. This week, everything flips. It’s going to be mind controlling race and the fans ought to have a good view of what it’s like because of the in-car camera. It will be fun.�?? Despite running competitively and upfront since his first top ten finish at Kansas Speedway, the team hasn’t been able to back up with the finishes due to a series of misfortunate circumstances. They hope to change their luck Friday. “Obviously our goal is to finish the race, but I think we can do a lot better than finish, we are capable of running in the top five. We have a strong car and impressive motor package for Friday’s race and it’s time to put this team back on the map in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.�?? SI Performance and Gould’s Electric will return as sponsors of the No. 42 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for the 44th ARCA race held at Talladega Superspeedway this week. 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 Talladega, 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). 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 Talladega, the team will switch gears and prepare for their debut at Iowa Speedway. McGilton was one of 19 teams to compete in the final open test session of the season. “We’re feeling pretty good about Iowa,�?? he said. “ We picked up considerably from the morning to the afternoon and I think we still have a little more for race weekend. The track is beautiful and I think everyone will see a great race.�?? The SI Performance team has been utilizing the 2006 season to get their feet wet in ARCA competition before pulling together a more intense racing schedule next year. The Food World 250 (94 laps/250 miles) is the 22nd of 23 events on the 2006 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. Practice begins Thursday, October 5th with a two hour thirty five minute (9:00am-11:35am EST) session planned. Pork Pole qualifying is set for that afternoon (3:30pm EST). The teams will receive a Happy Hour practice with limited adjustments on Friday, October 6th with the race set to take the green flag on later at 4:30pm. The race will be televised on SPEED on a same day tape-delay basis with airtime set for 8:00pm. Visit arcaracing.com for all the latest 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)