Catchfence

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (December 18, 2011) – - A week after announcing that Team BCR Racing and driver Buster Graham would compete in a minimum of 10 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards in 2012 at the championship awards banquet press conference in Covington, Kentucky – the team made a bold statement to be idolized as a pre-race favorite this past weekend at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in three days of testing in preparation for February’s Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on Saturday, February 18th.

Graham, driver of the No. 88 Batter’s Dream Ford Fusion would tackle the “World Center of Racing” for the first time on Friday morning. In a session that saw 40 machines tackle the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Graham would put his blue oval powered by RoushYates Engines to the 15th quickest lap. That afternoon saw the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team find additional speed and land 13th fastest overall in a four hour session that consisted of 53 cars.

Saturday morning’s session of single-car runs showed that the Lafayette, Louisiana could show consistency with his Team BCR Racing entry landing nearly identical lap times. With the afternoon session took the green flag, the ARCA Racing Series officials made drafting possible for the first time in a day and a half. The former hydroplane racer was eager to experience his first serious taste of drafting – after all, it’s a critical piece to success at Daytona.

Showing extreme focus and positive coaching from Howard Bixman, Graham clicked off the 12th fastest lap in 48.279 seconds at 186.416 miles per hour – his then fastest time of the weekend.

With the final day of testing set to conclude on Sunday, Graham and his team guided by owner Howard Bixman made small changes to their RoushYates powered automobile hoping for a little more speed when the track opened for business.

Speed is exactly what the duo found on Sunday morning. Under brisker conditions than the past two days, Graham wrestled his No. 88 Batter’s Dream Ford Fusion to a lap of 48.229 seconds or 186.610 miles per hour – his quickest lap of the weekend and fastest lap of the series’ morning session. It was the first time during Graham’s career where he has controlled the charts in any of ARCA’s bulletins.

“Man, I’m so excited, you have no idea,” said Graham. “Howard and Team BCR Racing along RoushYates Engines have poured a lot of effort into our program and I cannot tell you how much that means to me that we’re able to come here together as a group and run as competitively as we did. We didn’t make any major changes to the car it was great right from start, the RoushYates power under the hood is a bullet. We ran well in single-car format and we’re rocketing fast in the draft, that was the most fun I have ever had. I don’t think I could ask for much more. I’m looking forward to coming back in February.”

Bixman offered his thoughts on the weekend’s venture. “I’m real proud of Buster (Graham) and all the guys on this Team BCR Racing team. We worked our tails off and I can’t thank this group enough how much I appericate them. I can not begin to thank RoushYates Engines along with Nick Ramey and his staff for their support and willingness to make us a viable outfit in the ARCA Racing Series. We were ninth fastest overall and the second quickest Ford overall. We have some work to do to try find a little more with the car between now and February, but after what we’ve been able to accomplish, I think we’re all hoping Daytona would be a here little sooner than February. I think we showed that we’re going to be someone that’s going to be reckoned with here in a couple months.”

The Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona officially kicks off the 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season and the 60th year of competition for the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). The season-opener will be televised live on SPEED and will serve as a preamble for the highly anticipated Budweiser Shootout for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS).

For more information including marketing partnerships for the 2012 ARCA Racing Series season for Team BCR Racing and Buster Graham, please log onto teambcr.com.

For more on Batter’s Dream, please visit Battersdream.com.

Connect with RoushYates Performance Products and RoushYates Engines through their official web site at roushyatesparts.com.

About Batter’s Dream:

Batter’s Dream is an automated ball feeding system (pitching machine) that allows baseball hitters and softball hitters to maximize time in the batting cage by getting more quality cuts without fixing a tee. One of the key benefits of the Batter’s Dream batting machines is that it allows batters the freedom to focus on rhythm, stance, timing and swing speed without the need for a second person. Simply put, Batter’s Dream is the most effective, simple and easy-to-use soft toss system ever invented to help improve a hitter’s mechanics and increase their batting average.

- Team BCR Racing Press Release