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Better yet, the 20-year-old driver from Westby, Wis., has climbed to third place in the season points standings. How has the second-year ARCA driver turned from a middle of the pack driver as a rookie to a serious championship contender this season?
The team has cranked it up a notch when it comes to practice.
“Now we don’t have to take half the practice session to get the driver used to the track,” Bean said. “I have been to every track (except Lakeland, Fla.) before, so we can go right out and bust our tail in practice and really get the car ready for the race.”
Bean also said the Blackjack Racing team has stepped up its motor program, and its Tesar engines are supplying plenty of horsepower this year. Combine Bean’s experience, a stronger engine program and a up-and-coming crew chief in Chris Bires, and Bean’s top-10 finishes are no fluke.
“There is no doubt that all the seat time I got last year really helped me as a driver,” Bean said. “You can’t beat experience and you can’t beat preparation.”
Bean is on his way to Sparta, Ky., for the Buckle-Up Kentucky 150, which is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway. Bean is itching to get his first win in the ARCA Series, but he also knows that being in the thick of the points race is the most important thing.
In other words, he’s not about to risk everything just to the chance at a victory.
“Sure I want to get it. It’s going to happen one day,” Bean said. “But we’re kind of points racing, too.”
Bean also doesn’t want to tear up any of his cars by being reckless. The team has a good sponsor in Five-Star Telecom, Bean said, but is still searching for a major sponsors.
“It is unbelievable how hard it is to get sponsors,” Bean said. “We’re running on the slimmest, tightest budget we possibly can. We’ve still got that big, blank white hood with nothing on it.”
That’s why a good showing at the Kentucky race would go a long way on a number of different fronts. A number of development drivers for major Cup teams will be at that race.
“When you’ve got guys like Richard Childress fielding cars there (Kentucky), it makes it hard for a small-town team to compete against technology and money like that,” Bean said. “It’s not only like, ‘Ooh, you’re competing against the big drivers,’ but you want to beat them.”
Bean said the team fully intends to run the full ARCA schedule, and will run some other select races, too. The first big race outside of the ARCA Series happens to be in his home state on June 23.
“It works out great. We have a Busch car and that weekend off from ARCA,” Bean said of the Busch Grand National Series race June 23 at the Milwaukee Mile.
Bean also plans to run in a June 26 Super Late Model show at the Madison International Speedway, a race Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth will be
competing in. He also plans to run a Wisconsin Challenge Series event, the North American Cup, at Wisconsin Dells on June 30.
Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-8403, or e-mail at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com
