With an off weekend from NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) competition, veteran racer Gus Dean (@gusdean) has accepted an invitation to compete in Saturday night’s Speed51 Super Select race at Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
Dean, 25, will drive his famed No. 56 Baker Distributing Chevrolet for the event. Dean was invited to participate in last year’s race, but Mother Nature washed out the originally scheduled date last September.
With fall like weather expected this weekend, the Bluffton, S.C. is eying the $10,000 prize and the opportunity to deliver a win against a stacked field.
“I’m very honored to have been invited to compete in this weekend’s Speed51 Super Select race,” said Dean. “I can’t thank Mr. (Bob) Dillner enough for the invite and for our longtime partner Baker Distributing for stepping up to support us for the race.
“It’s a talented field with a lot of good drivers and great race cars but that should make it a great show for the race fans. For me, it’s an opportunity to go out with my Dean Racing crew with no pressure except to have fun and see if we can bring home the check and trophy.”
Dean has prior experience at Lucas Oil Raceway in ARCA Menards Series competition. With one top-five and two top-10s in the books from 2017 and 2018 seasons respectively, the Truck Series rookie knows his Late Model will drive different than his ARCA but admits there is some satisfaction in knowing he has laps around the Indiana short track.
“You have to get up on the wheel with these Late Models,” explained Dean. “You can’t drive them like a truck or an ARCA car. You have to wrestle them and work with the throttle at the same time. We should have a good car for this weekend.
“My prior experience at Lucas Oil will help when it comes to laps at the track, but once I climb into that No. 56 Baker Distributing Chevrolet, I’m not thinking about this or thinking about that. I’m focused to go out there and run as fast as I can and finish as close to the front as possible.”
While Dean has been busy with his duties for Young’s Motorsports in Trucks and Win-Tron Racing in ARCA, the Georgian is excited to dial back to his roots and compete against some of the best short track racers in the country.
“Late Model racing is a lot of fun,” added Dean. “You look at the entry list and I know a lot of these drivers first-hand and respect them as race car drivers. Once I put that helmet on though, the friendships go out the window and the competitor in us comes out.
“I’m going to race everyone hard and clean but at the end of the night, the only thing that matters is that checkered flag.”
Following Indianapolis, Dean will shift his attention to the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series for a return visit to Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway for the World of Westgate 200 on Sept. 13 aboard the No. 12 LG Air Conditioning Technologies Chevrolet Silverado for Young’s Motorsports.
Five races remain in Dean’s freshman season of Truck Series competition.
The Speed51 Super Select is set for Sat., Sept. 7, 2019, with practice beginning at 3:00 p.m., qualifying at 6:00 p.m. and the Speed51 Super Select 75-lap race at approximately 8:45 p.m. Coverage of the event will be exclusive on the Speed51 Network.
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