No matter the racing circuit, Bluffton driver constantly in motion

By and large, Tuesday evenings allow Gus Dean the chance to loosen up a little bit.

That is, if you consider an infield garage, sun-baked asphalt and diminutive throwback race cars your idea of a relaxed summer evening.

“You just go to race,” Dean said, “and you’re not so much worried about the show.”

And so the Bluffton native pilots his No. 56 Legends Car around the quarter-mile track on the frontstretch of Charlotte Motor Speedway, 25 laps on a Tuesday. Surely there are a handful of folks who know Dean has been victorious on the ARCA circuit this year, another rung on a ladder he hopes will eventually reach NASCAR’s Sprint Cup.

He’ll spend the next two weekends back in the ARCA pits, too, racing in Indianapolis and the Poconos with an eye on securing a full-season sponsorship for 2017.

Even with that, his Tuesday commitment won’t change. In a couple of months, Dean also will step back into the Super Late Model that bears the name of Dean Racing.

“Gus will race anything that has a wheel,” said his father, Charlie, who also presides over Dean Racing.

And the 21-year-old driver wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s been behind the wheel of something — from go-karts to the 700 horsepower ARCA models — since he was 6 years old.

“There are a lot more bad days at the racetrack than good,” Dean said, noting that only one guy gets to cross the finish line first. “But the worst day at the track is still better than not being at the track. I love what I do with every part of my being, to be able to go out there and drive these cars and race for a living.”

There seems little doubt Dean carries plenty of upside. Three starts on the developmental ARCA circuit — which often feeds into NASCAR’s Xfinity series — have taken him to both extremes of the racing spectrum, with enough promise to seek more.

“He’s probably the fastest learner I’ve ever worked with,” said team owner Mason Mitchell, who called Dean just before Christmas with a one-race offer for the series opener at Daytona.

“On the radio, he never gets too worked up. I can see him behind the wheel, taking his time to measure and set someone up to make a pass on him. I think that’s a (talent) he’s just got.”

The Daytona experience was cut well short, with Dean lasting just two laps before being taken out in a multicar wreck. But the promise was on display — he was fastest in testing and second-fastest in practice before a poor qualifying draw.

After two months to land new sponsorship, Dean’s second chance came at Talladega.

“It was like a perfect weekend,” Mitchell said. “We were fastest at practice, qualified second, led a ton of laps. We put ourselves in position to win.”

It wasn’t easy. With Dean running up front, a late bump from behind forced him into a quick save. The race also ended under caution — with Dean inches ahead as the yellow light came on.

“That was such a big victory,” Mitchell said.

Dean also placed seventh in a May race and, with sponsor GREE adding the Indianapolis race in recent days, he’ll get two more chances to convince them to back him for a full season.

“I know he’s got the talent and the ability to go out there and win a championship,” said Mitchell, who won an ARCA season title himself just two years ago.

“We have the experience and knowledge of what it takes to put yourself in position. You need to have luck on your side, but Gus has shown in his short stint that he’s fast enough.”

Said Dean: “You can have the talent, but you have to have the money behind you.”

Dean now lives in Mooresville, N.C., the suburb north of Charlotte that bills itself as “Race City USA” for the cluster of race teams and suppliers that have congregated in the area.

JR Motorsports, headquarters of Dale Earnhardt Jr., is in Mooresville, as well as a museum dedicated to his late father. Richard Petty Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing are based in town. Penske Racing’s facility not only houses its NASCAR operations but IndyCar as well.

Dean Racing is there, too, one of several small shops tucked away in an industrial zone just off Interstate 77. With no tracks anywhere close to Bluffton or Savannah, it makes sense to go where the racing is.

The shop is home to the Super Late Model entry, which Gus began racing five years ago after progressing through other developmental series. Right now, that one is on summer recess while Dean races the other two circuits.

Charlie Dean raced go-karts for several years, too, but retired in 2003 when his young son started tasting frequent success.

“It got to the point where I was having more fun racing with him than racing myself,” he said.

The elder Dean now splits his time between Bluffton, where he remains in charge of the family air-conditioning business, and the racing shop in Mooresville.

“Whatever is demanding more of my time,” he said.

The challenge is in keeping up with the son — and not necessarily on the racetrack. After racing in this Tuesday night’s Legends series, Gus will pop into Dean Racing for a day, hop a plane Thursday for Indianapolis, race there and fly back Sunday to get ready to race Legends again.

Then it’s a flight to the Poconos, a sponsor function that Thursday in New York, back to Pocono Raceway and fly home to get ready for another Legends race.

“It does get very tiring at times,” he said, quickly adding that it’s only a portion of the demand on Sprint Cup drivers’ time.

And after all, that’s where he intends to be.

“It’s that feeling of being on top of your sport,” he said. “I try to not ever complain about it, because it’s all I’ve wanted to do. I can sit on an airplane for a couple of hours and be OK with it. You have to understand how fortunate you are to do what you do.”

This story was originally published July 16, 2016 at 7:36 PM with the headline "No matter the racing circuit, Bluffton driver constantly in motion."