RACE: ArmsUp Motorsports weekend race news 2009-05-05

"ArmsUp Motorsports' Revere Greist Scores First SCCA National Victory"

SOUTH BELOIT, Ill. -- Revere Greist scored his first SCCA National Formula Continental (FC) race victory in dominating fashion this weekend at the Blackhawk Farms Raceway. After taking the pole in Saturday's qualifying session Greist led flag to flag leading two former SCCA National Champions across the line. The victory established Greist and ArmsUp Motorsports as one of the pairings to beat in the ultra competitive SCCA FC Central Division. Greist's win capped a strong weekend for the ArmsUp team with Jim Victor, John Greist, Kirk Kindsfater and Pat McGinnis all finishing inside the top-10 in the large 17-car FC field.

The weekend started off strong for the ArmsUp team with Revere Greist clicking off the second quickest time in the official practice session. Qualifying would show the true strength of the ArmsUp Motorsports team. Revere Greist scored the pole position by .06 of a second on the last lap of the session. Jim Victor put in a great drive to place his number seven Van Diemen third on the grid. Kirk Kindsfater had a shortened session after contact with a Formula Atlantic put him out of qualifying before he was able to put in a lap relegating him to the back of the FC field. John Greist drove to a seventh place result and Pat McGinnis gridded up 12th in the order.

When the green flag dropped on the race Revere was able to take full advantage of his pole position and jumped into the lead. From that point on the driver of the number 56 Healthcare Technology Systems car never relinquished the top spot. After pushing the car to its limit in the opening stages Revere was able to maintain a consistent gap ahead of three-time SCCA National Champion Niki Coello. When Greist crossed the line the final time he took the win by just over one second.

"It was great to be able to beat Niki (Coello) because he is the man in FC," said a thrilled Revere Greist after the race. "We are really starting to make some progress with our cars and this weekend showed that. We knew we had a good car after practice and during qualifying we made a change that picked us up even more time which helped us earn the pole. I was worried before the race about being able to maintain our qualifying pace but I realized after the first few laps that if I drove cleanly he (Coello) would not be able to challenge me for the win. This is great for the ArmsUp team but now we have to keep pushing our limits because Coello will be pushing just as hard to regain his advantage."

After starting from the third position Jim Victor fought a fading brake pedal most of the race. Despite the difficulty Victor brought his car home in the fourth position building on his strong season opening second place finish at Gateway.

John Greist waged a race long battle with another car for the sixth spot. The Madison Wisconsin resident eventually brought the car home in seventh. Kirk Kindsfater fought his way from the back of the pack after his incident in qualifying. Racing well Kindsfater moved up to the eighth position at a Blackhawk track that does not offer a lot of passing opportunities. Pat McGinnis drove a great race advancing three positions to finish in the ninth position even after contact on lap one.

"What an awesome weekend for our guys," team owner Gregg Borland stated after the event. "All of our drivers did a great job this weekend. This was a strong Continental field and all five of our cars finished in the top-10. I think we are now starting to see the results of all the development we did over the off season. Now we just need to carry this momentum through the rest of the season."

ArmsUp Motorsports now has a weekend off until a return trip to the Blackhawk Farms Raceway May 16th and 17th. Revere Greist will again lead the five car armada of Kirk Kindsfater, John Greist, Jim Victor and Pat McGinnis as the team searches for their second victory of the season.

-credit: www.ArmsUpMotorsports.com.