{"id":4590,"date":"2011-03-15T19:52:41","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T00:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-03-15T19:52:41","modified_gmt":"2011-03-16T00:52:41","slug":"gus-dean-impresses-top-10-finish-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/gus-dean-impresses-top-10-finish-anderson\/","title":{"rendered":"Gus Dean Impresses With Top-10 Finish At Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gus Dean Impresses With Top-10 Finish At Anderson<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst Career PASS Start Grabs Attention\u201d<\/p>\n

WILLIAMSTON, South Carolina (March 15, 2011) – – 16 year-old Gus Dean is definitely turning heads. After a solid outing in World Series of Asphalt Stockcar racing Crate Model division at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway last month, the Bluffton, South Carolina native headed to Anderson Motor Speedway this past weekend looking for a similar performance in his Pro All Star Series (PASS) debut.
\n
\nUnder the leadership of USARacing Pro Cup Series veteran A.J. Frank, the youngster climbed into a Super Late Model for the first time in his career at the tight short track Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

In practice, Dean quickly found his comfort zone in the No. 56 Whirlpool Cooling and Heating Chevrolet Impala. Following the foot steps of some of the series\u2019 most developed drivers, Dean posted respectable practice times while communicating with Frank about the handling of his race car.<\/p>\n

Looking for a solid starting position in time trials, the former American Kart Racing Association\u2019s Junior II National Points Series champion posted the 18th fastest lap in qualifying, just a few tenths off the pole sitter.<\/p>\n

Despite taking the green flag in the \u201ceye of the storm\u201d on a short track, Dean immediately began throttling forward through the field. Patiently, he studied his prey and took one position at a time while still climbing the No. 56 Whirlpool Cooling and Heating Chevrolet Impala up the leader board.<\/p>\n

Reaching the top-10 by the halfway mark, Dean would continue to adjust to the heavier Super Late Model but impress the members of his Gus Dean Racing (GDR) team by posting lap times comparable to the leaders.<\/p>\n

In the second-half of the event, the field would be stretched out into a long-green flag run which would allow the leaders to eventually lock onto the bumper of the No. 56 Chevrolet. Wanting to earn the respect of his competitors, Dean cautiously-aggressive tried to maintain his lead lap status but to no avail.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Dean\u2019s determination kept his machine in the \u201cLucky Dog\u201d position and when a late race caution flew, Dean would retain his lap lost.<\/p>\n

Starting from the rear of the field, Dean methodically and diligently worked his way again though the lead pack and landed back in the 10th position when the checkered flag waived. <\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a lot out there,\u201d said Dean following the event. \u201cA.J. (Frank) and the team gave me a good race car. This place is no piece of cake in this heavier car, but I just kept my head straight and focused on my goal that I set earlier in the day, finishing in the top-10.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cWe\u2019re running good and that\u2019s a great feeling. I just want to thank Whirlpool Cooling and Heating, MODOC Research Group and The CornerStone Grill for their support and faith in this race team. Also a huge thanks to my Mom and Dad and the team for their hard work and encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n

A.J. Frank, who\u2019s become Dean\u2019s driver coach as well as his crew chief, commented on his pupil\u2019s performance. \u201cI\u2019m real proud of Gus,\u201d he said. \u201cThe kid has impressed me a ton with his ability to get up to speed at some very difficult tracks. His feedback is right on and his heart is in the right place. It\u2019s a real honor to work with him.<\/p>\n

I want to thank Gus, the guys on the team, our sponsors and RE Suspension for their help and support this weekend. We enjoyed competing in the PASS Series and look forward to coming back soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to PASS South Series competition, Dean and Co. will run in the Late Model (LM) and other Super Late Model (SLM) events across the Southeast all year long.<\/p>\n

For more on Gus Dean, please visit GusDean.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gus Dean Impresses With Top-10 Finish At Anderson \u201cFirst Career PASS Start Grabs Attention\u201d WILLIAMSTON, South Carolina (March 15, 2011) – – 16 year-old Gus Dean is definitely turning heads. After a solid outing in World Series of Asphalt Stockcar racing Crate Model division at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway last month, the Bluffton, South Carolina […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15766],"class_list":["post-4590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pass","tag-pass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}