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ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - Revere Greist brought ArmsUp Motorsports a runner-up finish during the 54th running of the SCCA June Sprints in Formula Continental. The Elkhart Lake based team had a full fleet of cars, with seven drivers competing in FC and one Formula Atlantic car running. Kirk Kindsfater, Jim Victor and Pat McGinnis all joined Greist with top-10 results behind the wheel of their ArmsUp Motorsports prepared Formula Continental machinery.

After the two qualifying sessions the ArmsUp group was fairly confident in their chances at victory. Kirk Kindsfater put his number 32 Van Diemen second on the grid with his teammate Greist starting directly behind him in fourth. Jim Victor was the next ArmsUp driver in the order with a seventh place starting spot. The rest of the ArmsUp drivers were scattered through the field with Pat McGinnis 13th, Noble Heller 21st, Jeff Pietz 25th and John Dickmann 26th.

When the green flag fell on the Formula Continental race the ArmsUp drivers immediately moved forward. Kindsfater had a monster start jumping into the lead from off pole with Greist moving up to third. By the lap two the order had already shuffled with Greist moving to the point leading Kindsfater in the second spot. After four laps of racing Greist had jumped out to almost a second lead while Kindsfater began to slide back through the field to fifth. Jim Victor was consistent in seventh at this point with McGinnis jumping up from 13th into the 10th spot.

On lap five Greist would relinquish the lead to former Formula Ford National Champion Justin Pritchard. For the next few laps Greist would stay within striking distance until lapped traffic and pressure from behind forced him to lose touch with the leader. Kindsfater had dropped to the sixth position while fighting a brake bias problem after his adjuster froze in the car. Victor was able to hold steady in seventh while McGinnis was waging a three car battle for the eighth spot.

As the checkered flag fell Greist held off all challengers to take the second spot, one position better than his 2008 result. Kindsfater and Victor also held onto their positions crossing the line sixth and seventh respectively. McGinnis just missed out on an eighth place result after a race long battle and came home in the ninth position. Noble Heller and Jeff Pietz both advanced from their starting positions putting in great drives to come home 17th and 18th respectively. John Dickmann dropped out of the event mid-way through with a mechanical issue.

Jose Paredes drove his Swift 0.14 in the Formula Atlantic category. After qualifying his car in the 14th position, the Frankfort, IL resident advanced two positions in the race to finish 12th.

John Greist was scheduled to compete at this year's June Sprints but a very scary moment took him out of the event. During the Thursday test day Greist was hit in the left rear by a slower car on Road America's winding back straightaway. The contact sent Greist's car into the barriers at a very high speed. After being airlifted out of the track Greist was diagnosed with three cracked vertebrae and a broken left thumb. The Madison resident was released from the hospital during the weekend and the entire ArmsUp Motorsports community wishes him a speedy recovery.

"I just really want to thank the whole ArmsUp crew," Revere Greist said from the podium. "These guys gave me a great car and I would not be up here without their support. My father was in a crash on Thursday and I want to thank the Road America safety crew and the corner marshals for the work they do. It is an honor to crash here because the safety team here is the best in the business and I can't thank them enough."

"I thought we could have won this one," team owner Gregg Borland commented after the race. "Revere drove so well, (Justin) Pritchard just had a little more than us. I'm very proud of our guys; the crew did a great job with all the cars we had running this weekend. We had a lot of friends that came out to support us this weekend and that always makes the events a lot of fun. I want to wish John (Greist) a quick recovery and all of us at ArmsUp Motorsports cannot wait to see him back at the track."

ArmsUp Motorsports next race event will be back at Road America in one month's time for the SCCA Cat National. In the interim the team will continue its Road America testing program with several tests at the four-mile circuit scheduled.

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 (left) celebrates his second consecutive June Sprints podium finish.
(Photo Courtesy ArmsUp Motorsports.com)

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