Gus Dean Battles Back for Sixth in Catawba Valley 250 at Hickory

South Carolina Driver Will Follow Up with SLM Easter Bunny 150 Next

The grandstands at Myrtle Beach Speedway this Saturday night will be full of Gus Dean #MASHONIT t-shirts when the young South Carolinian returns home to compete in the Dean Custom Air 250 CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series event.  From nearby Bluffton, South Carolina, Dean is prepared to battle at his home track for the first time in 2013 in front of many family and friends.  Free tickets for Saturday's event can be found at many local businesses in and around the Myrtle Beach area and can be printed now from CARSProCup.com. 

April 8

Gus Dean had just the car he wanted

in the first half of Saturday night’s

CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series Catawba

Valley 250 at Hickory Motor

Speedway (NC).  However, things

took a turn for the worse after the

halfway break.  Fortunately, Dean

was able to battle back for the sixth

finishing position when the

checkered flag flew at one of his

admittedly tougher tracks.

“We had a really strong car the first

half,” said Dean.  “The guys did a

great job.  It was a little bit loose

through the center off but not that

bad.  When we came in for the halfway break we redrew second and then got a bad start.  I felt like first place jumped it a little bit; I felt like he jumped it pretty early and I was assuming they were going to call him on it and they didn’t. 

“So we got a little bit of a rough start there for the second half,” said Dean.  “And then the tires just wouldn’t cooperate with us like the first set did and the car got really loose throughout the run.  We came in to make an adjustment early in the run so we went back out at the tail end.” 

Dean was happy with his sixth-place run at the end of the night at one of his toughest tracks.

“We fought our way back up to sixth,” said Dean.  “So not a bad weekend.  Hickory is definitely a track that I struggle at as a driver, but we did what we could and hopefully we’ll be there to get them at the next one.”

Up next for the Bluffton, South Carolina native will be a return trip to the famed Hickory Motor Speedway for the PASS South Super Late Model Easter Bunny 150 on Saturday, April 19.