Brayton Laster is gearing up for the busiest season of his ARCA Menards Series career, to date, with the announcement on Friday that the Greenwood, Indiana-native has secured a three-race agreement to drive for Rise Motorsports.
The 21-year-old racer will get behind the wheel of the No. 31 Chevrolet SS in the ARCA Menards Series event at Kansas Speedway on May 4, before returning to the organization for the series’ two dirt races at Springfield and DuQuoin.
For Laster, the partnership is a familiar one, after working with the organization at the tail-end of last season, notching three finishes inside the top-10, including a personal best of ninth place at Salem Speedway.
“My biggest hurdle right now with running in the ARCA Menards Series are intermediate tracks by far, last year I ran Charlotte as my first intermediate and we really struggled to get a grasp of it, especially turn two,” said Laster. “Being able to learn a whole new track, and get a whole new level of experience, is a really exciting opportunity. I also love working with the Rise Motorsports team and this helps us both out mutually. It is cool to see how many drivers they have been able to bring in so far this year and I am glad we can still be a part of that list and watch their growth.”
Rise Motorsports, founded in 2022 by Tim and Rita Goulet, competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, fielding the No. 31 Chevrolet for several drivers, including Rita Goulet, Mitch Gibson, Casey Carden, and others.
Tim and Rita both have extensive backgrounds in racing, with Tim having worked as a crew chief in NASCAR’s National Series for several years, bringing his knowledge to the team as the primary crew chief. Rita has raced in the ARCA Menards Series since 2022, primarily in the East Series.
“Rise Motorsports is thrilled to have Brayton back in the No. 31 Chevrolet SS during the 2024 season. He drove our car to three top-10 finishes at the end of last year and we can’t wait to see what he can do in our car this year,” Tim Goulet said. “Rise Motorsports takes great pride in seeing the growth and development of all our drivers.”
Despite being one of 10 drivers who failed to qualify for the ARCA Menards Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, Laster is excited to get back on-track, with at least six additional races confirmed across the ARCA Menards Series platform for the 2024 season.
While three of those races will be with Rise Motorsports, announcements regarding additional events this season will come at a later date.
“I was pretty bummed out after not qualifying at Daytona, we knew going in there was always a chance, you just never think you will be one of the teams going home. I was sitting in my hotel a couple of hours after not qualifying, just laying in bed trying to think what was next, and that’s when Tim Goulet called me,” Laster said. “We talked about how hard it was, putting this much effort into a race, just to come home empty-handed, then we started to talk about down the line. He said he would love to bring me back for the two dirt races and even Kansas coming up in a couple of months. I went from being at one of my lowest points to being on cloud nine, and to think I would have team owners calling me, right after not qualifying, was shocking. I immediately got home and started hammering the phones and emails to make this all happen.”
CarAggio.com, one of the world’s biggest automotive part inventories and the central hub for anything automotive, will be a supporter of Laster’s efforts at Kansas, and additional events this season. The company sponsored Laster at Daytona and despite not making the field, was excited to get back going with the 21-year-old.
