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ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - ArmsUp Motorsports driver Revere Greist scored a third place finish in the Formula Continental class at the SCCA National
Championship Runoff's. Greist led a very strong showing by the ArmsUp squad as the team placed four cars in the top seven in Saturday's race at
Elkhart Lake's Road America. Greist's podium was his first podium in his first Runoffs appearance and was the best result to date for ArmsUp
Motorsports in SCCA's top event.
Starting from the outside of row number one, Greist was able to fall in line at the wave of the green flag as
the field raced into turn-one. On the approach to the hard breaking turn-five Greist made a strong move to the outside and was able to get alongside
the leader Niki Coello. Greist and Coello went side-by-side through five and up the hill to turn-six. The ArmsUp driver able to wrestle the lead away
from Coello on the entry to turn-six and lead the opening lap. As the leaders came to see the start finish line for the first time they were greeted
by a full course caution for a massive six car accident in the high-speed Kink at Road America. The black flag was then displayed to the field and the
cars were brought into the pits to so the RA crew could repair the wall where the incident occurred.
After a 20 minute clean-up the Formula
Continental race was shortened from a 13-lap race to a 20 minute sprint. Greist would lead the field to the restart with Kirk Kindsfater sixth, Joe
Tovo seventh, Jim Victor eighth and Pat McGinnis tenth for the ArmsUp squad.
Coello would get the jump on Greist at the restart demoting the
Madison Wisconsin driver to the second position. Tovo got a strong restart and moved up to sixth with Kindsfater trying to fight his way back forward
from fifth. On lap two Kindsfater tried to accelerate up the hill out of turn-five but slowed on the entry to turn-six. A broken gearbox was the
culprit ending Kindsfater's race early in the going.
Greist was able to keep tabs on Coello for the first two laps but slowly began to lose
touch with the leader. Meanwhile the rest of the ArmsUp drivers were having a great battle amongst themselves as Tovo, Victor and McGinnis occupied
positions five through seven after four laps of action. The ArmsUp trio were running solid laps and able to avoid other cars dropping out of
contention. On lap six McGinnis was challenged for the seventh position. The driver of the number 99 car was able to avoid a dive bomb pass attempt
that led to nose to nose contact after the eighth place driver wound up backwards at the apex of five. McGinnis, Victor and Tovo would go unchallenged
for the remainder of the race.
As the laps closed down Greist began falling into the clutches of the third place car of Justin Pritchard. With
two laps to go in the eight lap shootout Pritchard was able to make pass over Greist into turn five. Greist was able to stay close and on the final
lap mad an attempt into the last hard brake zone at Road America, Canada Corner. It was not meant to be as Greist could not get the pass done. Greist
crossed the line in third scoring his first Runoff's podium finish in his first attempt. Joe Tovo would go on to finish in the fifth position, Jim
Victor scored his best runoffs result in sixth, and Pat McGinnis placed seventh scoring a top-ten Runoffs result in his first full year of
driving.
"This was an incredible strong showing for our team," ArmsUp Motorsports owner Gregg Borland said after the event. "The whole crew
worked very hard all week long and we put four cars in the top seven at the Runoffs. I want to thank all of our drivers for doing a great job this
week and this whole season. We had a great year and I am already looking forward to next season."
ArmsUp Motorsports will now begin the long
off-season. The team would like to thank its official partners for their support throughout 2009, Elite Engines, Primus Race Parts, Elan Technologies,
Frisby Performance Tire, Cooper Consulting, K&N Filters and everyone else who worked with the team over the past season.
Formed in 1995, ArmsUp
Motorsports is one of the premier SCCA Formula Continental and Formula Atlantic racing teams. Based in Elkhart Lake, Wis ArmsUp Motorsports is a full
service prep shop for Formula Continentals, Formula Atlantics, and Vintage racing cars. For more information please visit the official ArmsUp website
at www.ArmsUpMotorsports.com.
Revere Greist battles for the FC lead in the early going. Greist would go on to finish third in his first Runoffs appearance.
(Photo Courtesy Jacques-O-Lot Photography)
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