Other Motorsports

Hal Martin started off Daytona in fine form by topping the speed charts during testing, and during practice while qualifying sixth. However, everything fell apart during the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 when Martin blew a tire, triggering a nine-car wreck and leaving him to finish 30th.

"I knew after working with (crew chief) John Quinn, a veteran at Daytona, that we had the right setups on the No. 55 NOLA Motorsports Toyota Camry," Martin said in a press release. " We knew that tire wear would be low, and coming into the race week, it would be all about mastering the draft and fuel management.  The car was perfect, and going into both practice sessions, we knew we were a super competitive team."

At the beginning of the race, the New Orleans native stayed in the top 10, running in the single-car train around the track. During the second caution at lap 18, Martin made a pit stop, putting him back to the 13th position.

On the restart, he quickly made his way up to fifth before the third caution, where the team decided to pit again for two tires and fuel.

On the restart at lap 49,  Martin restarted 18th and started to work his way through the field with his Venturini Motorsports teammates.

However, on lap 64, Martin blew a tire, and when Arpin tried to avoid Martin, he caught the front of Milka Duno's car. In the aftermath, six other drivers got caught up.

The flat tire was caused by a tire rub, which began to show during the previous corner.

"It was a disappointing end to such a good run this week," Martin said. "All I can say is that we're taking what we've learned about Superspeedways to Talladega in April. It was a great overall experience, and I wish I could have wheeled the No. 55 to Victory Lane - but it happens.  We have to keep going and keep racing, and I have to thank everyone at the Venturini Motorsports shop for working so hard to give us a great race car all week."

The next race for the ARCA Series is Talladega on April 15th, which will be shown live on SPEED.

Old pavement, new pavement, it doesn't matter to Bobby Gerhart as he still continued his Daytona dominance with his seventh Daytona win.

"We didn't have a good car—we had a great car," Gerhart said. "That was awesome...The kid (Chris Buescher) did a tremendous job. I was getting punched around a lot there."

Playing the role of Gerhart's wing man and pushing him to victory was 18-year-old rookie Chris Buescher, who stuck with Gerhart the whole race.

"That was pretty cool with coming to Daytona for the first time," he said. "Congratulations to Bobby Gerhart—he is the best here. He learned a lot here."

Bobby Gerhart and Chris Buescher pitted early in the race under the first caution and then stayed out under the cautions that followed to take the top two spots with 30 laps to go.

"We're getting exceptional mileage again," Gerhart's crew chief Billy Gerhart said. "We went to Talladega three weeks ago and we knew when we came here, it'd be tough to pass. So lets work on the mileage...We come here to win. I'd rather be leading and run out rather than run second."

Rookie Matt Merrell finished third while Camping World Truck Series veteran Ricky Carmichael finished fourth. NASCAR All-Star Showdown winner Jason Bowles completed the top five in fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 was Joey Licata, Benny Gordon, Chad McCumbee, Grant Enfinger and Frank Kimmel.

Pole sitter Ty Dillon finished 11th after being involved in an accident earlier in the race.

On lap 63, the big one happened when Hal Martin blew a tire, causing a wreck that involved Steve Arpin, Milka Duno, Kyle Fowler, Steve Blackburn, Bryan Silas and Maryeve Dufault.

"The only thing I saw was smoke and I saw bouncing cars all over the place," Maryeve said afterward. "I thought the safest place would be to go down as low as possible, but we still got caught up."

Other wrecks that happened included Ed Pompa with a tire blowing out on lap 56 and Chad Hackenbracht flipping on lap 45.

"I'm doing pretty fine. going through three and four, all I know is we had a good three-four car draft going," Hackenbracht said. "I heard something clinking, went to the outside of the 30 car and it wrecked."

The next ARCA race of the season will be on April 15 at Talladega Superspeedway and will be broadcast live on SPEED.

To see more articles by Ashley McCubbin and live updates from the weekend, check out http://newsfromthepits.blogspot.com/

When the green flag drops tomorrow for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, two 18-year-olds will lead the field to the green flag.

Richard Childress' grandson Ty Dillon (No. 41 University of Northwestern Ohio/Richard Childress Racing Development Chevrolet) won the pole with a lap of 48.509 seconds (185.533mph) to win the Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell. This is the fastest lap that has been run at Daytona since Kirk Shelmerdine in 2001 with a pole speed of 187.352mph. 

"It was really special to me. I've been coming here for a long time since I was a little kid to see my grandfather, watching races, watching qualifying and this being my first time at a superspeedway and to have this car get the pole is really special to me," Dillon said. "I'm glad we could do it with UNOH.

"Our team has definitely worked hard enough so that we have one of the best cars in the garage. I believe we can definitely win this race tomorrow. I just have to be patient; we have the car to do it."

This marks the start of a solid weekend for Dillon, who is trying to go for his third consecutive win in a row after winning the final two races last year—Kansas & Rockingham. Dillon has also been running a dirt modified at Volusia Speedway Park each night to get more experience.

"I think it just helps me with my experience, getting as much seat time as possible," he said. "It's been hard every night getting back to the hotel at one in the morning and getting up at six to come here to be with the guys, but I love racing. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."

Starting second will be Venturini Motorsports rookie Kyle Fowler, who drove a lap of 48.65 seconds (184.995mph) in his No. 15 Chevrolet.

"Venturini definitely has an awesome piece there with the 15 car, and I'm just the lucky guy that gets to hold the steering wheel," Fowler said.

Fowler has made just five prior starts in the ARCA Racing Series, but none on a track larger than a mile-and-a-half.

"It was absolutely incredible to make those first few laps around here," he said. "Heck, I got goosebumps just walking on the premises. It's every driver's dream to race here. It's racing's biggest stage, and I just want to be there at the end."  

Following the rookies will be Venturini Motorsports veteran Steve Arpin (No. 25 Mike's Hard Lemonade Chevrolet), with a lap of 48.762 seconds (184.57 mph).

"We were really focused (in practice) yesterday on qualifying stuff," said Arpin, who led the series with three victories last year. "It's really hard at Daytona, because you've got to try to qualify the best you can because track position's really important, but at the same time you've got to make the car drive as good as it can.

"We tried to find that happy medium and balance the car the best we could. The best thing I'm excited about is that our car drives awesome in the draft and that's all that's important—to get that trophy at the end of the day tomorrow."

Matt Merrell, who is making his first start since 2009, will start fourth in his No. 32 Red Line Oil Toyota. Six-time Daytona ARCA winner Bobby Gerhart completed the top five in fifth with his No. 5 Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet.

Practice leader Hal Martin, motocross superstar Ricky Carmichael, Mark Thompson, Tim George Jr. and Tom Hessert will fill out the rest of the first five rows.

Other notables include IndyCar star Milka Duno who will start 23rd in his first ARCA start while nine-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel will start 26th in his 20th ARCA Daytona start.

The 80-lap, 200-mile Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 airs live on SPEED at 4:30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow, with live timing and scoring and live audio presented by ARCA Nation and News 1150 WNDB at ARCARacing.com. Gerhart (No. 5 Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet) is the defending and all-time leading winner at the track, with wins in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. Gerhart also won four consecutive poles between 2003 and 2006. The race is scheduled as the first of 19 this season.

The ARCA Racing Series will host a final, 45-minute practice at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Live timing and scoring will be presented by ARCA Nation at ARCARacing.com.

Starting Grid

2011 Event #1, ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards
Daytona Int'l Speedway, Daytona Beach FL, 2-12-11
Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200
February 11, 2011 / 3:49 PM
POS	NO	DRIVER/HOMETOWN	TEAM & CAR	TIME	SPEED
1	41	Ty Dillon/Lewisville NC	UNOH Chevrolet	48.509	185.533
2	15	Kyle Fowler/Smyrna GA	Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet	48.650	184.995
3	25	Steve Arpin/Fort Frances ON	Mike's Hard Lemonade-Trent's Tire Toyota	48.762	184.570
4	32	Matt Merrell/Portland TX	Red Line Oil Toyota	48.881	184.121
5	5	Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA	Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet	48.961	183.820
6	55	Hal Martin/Galliano LA	NOLA Motorsports Park Toyota	48.977	183.760
7	4	Ricky Carmichael/Tallahassee FL	Monster Energy Chevrolet	48.981	183.745
8	66	Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA	Phoenix Air Toyota	49.083	183.363
9	31	Tim George Jr./New York NY	RCR Development Chevrolet	49.112	183.255
10	52	Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ	Federated Auto Parts Toyota	49.249	182.745
11	28	Miguel Paludo/Nova Prata Brazil	STEMCO-Duroline Toyota	49.276	182.645
12	98	Kevin Swindell/Goodlettsville TN	Curb Records-Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota	49.291	182.589
13	16	Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL	Rip It Energy Fuel-Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet	49.314	182.504
14	22	Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle IN	Ferrellgas-Syngenta Dodge	49.355	182.352
15	19	Brian Rose/Louisville KY	Harris Trucking-ASE Toyota	49.358	182.341
16	6	Jason Bowles/Ontario CA	Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota	49.368	182.304
17	14	John Ferrier/Middletown NY	CGS Imaging Ford	49.386	182.238
18	30	Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario	Jones Group Dodge	49.388	182.230
19	17	Chris Buescher/Prosper TX	Roulo Brothers Racing Ford	49.408	182.157
20	09	Benny Gordon/DuBois PA	VSI Ford	49.537	181.682
21	94	Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY	Hudson Performance Drivelines Dodge	49.583	181.514
22	11	Bryan Silas/Stuart FL	National Speed Sport News-Fast Track Ford	49.584	181.510
23	63	Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela	Citgo Lubricants Dodge	49.604	181.437
24	12	Maryeve Dufault/Sorel Quebec	TMR Dodge	49.726	180.992
25	77	Joey Licata/Van Nuys CA	Wrong Inc. Dodge	49.727	180.988
26	44	Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN	Ansell-Menards Ford	49.775	180.814
27	82	Sean Corr/Goshen NY	Empire Racing Ford	49.782	180.788
28	1	Chad McCumbee/Supply NC	ModSpace Ford	49.791	180.756
29	18	Chris Lawson/Troutman NC	Ideal Steel Custom Flame Cutting Dodge	49.801	180.719
30	00	Ed Kennedy/Coppell TX	Thunder 2 Lubricants-Daytona Lagoon Chevrolet	49.811	180.683
31	36	Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL	BeasleyAllen.com-Excaliber Coach Dodge	49.846	180.556
32	26	Tommy Joe Martins/Como MS	Martins Motorsports Dodge	49.924	180.274
33	23	Nick Igdalsky/Long Pond PA	Fox Realty Chevrolet	Provisional
34	34	Darrell Basham/Henryville IN	IndustrialDepot.com Ford	Provisional
35	48	James Hylton/Inman SC	Radon.com Ford	Provisional
36	10	Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY	Rifenburg Construction-Double H Ranch Chevrolet	Provisional
37	06	Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD	CanadianHeroes.com Chevrolet	Provisional
38	68	Steve Blackburn/Prestonsburg KY	Honda of Prestonburg-Harley of Pikeville Dodge	Provisional
39	7	Brent Cross/Cortland NY	Cummings Auto Machine-Quadraflex Chevrolet	Provisional
40	58	Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadelphia OH	Tastee Apple Chevrolet	Provisional
41	75	Benny Chastain/Tallahassee FL	Drive To End Hunger AARP Toyota	Provisional
42	3	Brent Brevak/Eau Claire WI	Red's Auto Ford	Provisional
43	42	Scott Stenzel/Orlando FL	Yellow Stripes Making The Driver Ford	Provisional

To see more articles by Ashley McCubbin and live updates from the weekend, check out http://newsfromthepits.blogspot.com/

The ARCA Series Presented by Menards opened up their first day of on-track action today, with a four-hour practice this afternoon.

Just like in testing last month, Hal Martin drove his No. 55 NOLA Motorsports Park Toyota to the top of the practice chart as his team, Venturini Motorsports, took three of the top four positions.

"What a successful day, all in all," Martin said. "We've spent a lot of long hours at the shop, and I've put in a lot of long hours of mental prep for this day. There were some things in practice we wanted to try, and the car just ran fast. That's all I can say. It's driving really well, and dicing in and out of traffic. We did a lot of drafting this afternoon and ran well in every situation."

Martin's best lap was 48.092 seconds, hitting an average speed of 187.141mph. Martin's teammates, Kyle Fowler (No. 15 Chevrolet) and Steve Arpin (No. 25 Mike's Hard Lemonade/Trent's Tire Toyota), were third and fourth, respectively.

Sandwiched in second was Richard Childress Racing driver and Childress' grandson, Ty Dillon (No. 41 University of Northwestern Ohio Chevrolet), with his teammate Tim George Jr. (No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Development Chevrolet) in fifth to complete the top five.

Contributing to a top-five sweep by Venturini and RCR was the drafting that was done during practice, as Martin cited both his two teammates and the RCR teammates as "dancing partners".

Martin noted that he spent the beginning doing mock qualifying runs, as this is the only practice they'll get before qualifying.

"We started out the day with mock qualifying runs, just to see where we stood basically," he said. "Hopefully, we get the pole, but you never know what will happen out there. I hope we can get a solid top-five start and go win it from there on Saturday. If we can start up front, we hope to stay out front."

Steve Blackburn, Matt Merrell, Bryan Silas, Brian Rose and Tom Hessert comprised the remainder of the top 10.

Other notables include six-time and defending Daytona ARCA Champion Bobby Gerhart, who drove his No. 5 Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet to the 20th position on the chart, one spot ahead of nine-time ARCA Racing Series Champion Frank Kimmel.

Some people were concerned what the rain earlier in the day would do to the track, however, Martin said it had no effect.

"The grip level's still there," Martin said. "You know, it's not like a track where it's been worn in and you get a little rain and the track gets green and there's no grip. That didn't happen. I know we had a good bit of rain this morning—it woke me up in the motorhome at 5 or 6 a.m.—but the track is just like it was at the test. The tires aren't wearing."

Fowler said that as a whole, the track hadn't actually changed that much from before the paving.

"We talked about the old and the new, as far as whatever he was doing and what it was like to run around this place, and where I'm running around this place, and the similarities," Fowler said. "Over time, it hasn't really changed as much as people think even through different pavements. The core of it is still the same."

However, Fowler said he is ready for whatever happens.

"I've been mentally preparing," Fowler said. "Preparing, preparing, preparing. I've been doing a little bit of the iRacing (computer simulation) stuff, because I've got to get familiar with this place more. I've been watching tapes of races and (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver) David Ragan's been giving me advice."

With three of the five drivers at Venturini Motorsports in the top five, its no wonder that Venturini Motorsports General Manager Billy Venturini is happy.

"All the cars seemed really good," Venturini said. "The Nos. 15, 25, and 55 seemed to be the best three cars during single-car runs. So, I think we will have a very solid performance in qualifying. No. 28 (Miguel Paludo) and No. 66 (Mark Thompson), we expect to put them in the top 10 also. (In) drafting practice, all the cars seemed extremely strong. I think that we should be tough to beat. All the hard work seems to be paying off. I expect to qualify very well and make sure we can back that up on Saturday with a victory."

All 47 entered drivers took laps; 43 will start in Saturday's Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, scheduled to air at 4:30 p.m. on SPEED. The starting field will be set in the Menards Pole Qualifying, presented by Ansell, tomorrow at 2 p.m.

2011 Event #1, ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards
Daytona Int'l Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL, 2-12-11
Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200
POS	NO	DRIVER/HOMETOWN	TIME	SPEED
1	55	Hal Martin/Galliano, LA	48.092	187.141
2	41	Ty Dillon/Lewisville, NC	48.133	186.982
3	15	Kyle Fowler/Smyrna, GA	48.378	186.035
4	25	Steve Arpin/Fort Frances, ON	48.415	185.893
5	31	Tim George Jr./New York, NY	48.421	185.870
6	68	Steve Blackburn/Prestonsburg, KY	48.493	185.594
7	32	Matt Merrell/Portland, TX	48.837	184.286
8	11	Bryan Silas/Stuart, FL	48.863	184.188
9	19	Brian Rose/Louisville, KY	48.970	183.786
10	52	Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill, NJ	48.970	183.786
11	16	Joey Coulter/Miami Springs, FL	48.983	183.737
12	36	Grant Enfinger/Fairhope, AL	48.999	183.677
13	14	John Ferrier/Middletown, NY	49.002	183.666
14	26	Tommy Joe Martins/Como, MS	49.003	183.662
15	09	Benny Gordon/DuBois, PA	49.019	183.602
16	4	Ricky Carmichael/Tallahassee, FL	49.053	183.475
17	1	Chad McCumbee/Supply, NC	49.085	183.355
18	98	Kevin Swindell/Goodlettsville, TN	49.095	183.318
19	77	Joey Licata/Van Nuys, CA	49.100	183.299
20	5	Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon, PA	49.104	183.284
21	44	Frank Kimmel/Clarksville, IN	49.104	183.284
22	6	Jason Bowles/Ontario, CA	49.245	182.760
23	30	Terry Jones/Amherstburg, ON	49.266	182.682
24	63	Milka Duno/Caracas, Venezuela	49.339	182.411
25	66	Mark Thompson/Cartersville, GA	49.358	182.341
26	28	Miguel Paludo/Nova Prata, Brazil	49.440	182.039
27	97	Matt Lofton/Mooresville, NC	49.570	181.561
28	22	Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle, IN	49.729	180.981
29	17	Chris Buescher/Prosper, TX	49.778	180.803
30	00	Ed Kennedy/Coppell, TX	49.804	180.708
31	82	Sean Corr/Goshen, NY	49.862	180.498
32	94	Brett Hudson/Owensboro, KY	49.869	180.473
33	75	Benny Chastain/Tallahassee, FL	50.045	179.838
34	42	Scott Stenzel/Orlando, FL	50.096	179.655
35	59	Drew Charlson/New Bremen, OH	50.182	179.347
36	12	Maryeve Dufault/Sorel, QC	50.189	179.322
37	48	James Hylton/Inman, SC	50.198	179.290
38	3	Brent Brevak/Eau Claire, WI	50.562	177.999
39	54	Will Vaught/Crane, MO	50.649	177.694
40	18	Chris Lawson/Troutman, NC	50.767	177.281
41	24	Ricky Byers/Birmingham, AL	50.796	177.179
42	34	Darrell Basham/Henryville, IN	51.127	176.032
43	23	Nick Igdalsky/Long Pond, PA	51.258	175.582
44	58	Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadelphia, OH	51.529	174.659
45	10	Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa, NY	51.932	173.304
46	7	Brent Cross/Cortland, NY	51.991	173.107
47	06	Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville, MD	54.744	164.402

Credit to the ARCA Racing Network for Picture and Quotes

To see more articles by Ashley McCubbin and live updates from the weekend, check out http://newsfromthepits.blogspot.com/

After the three-day open test at Daytona earlier this month, ARCA Series drivers Bobby Gerhart, Tom Hessert, Sean Corr and Chad McCumbee are heading to Talladega Superspeedway to continue to prepare for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona on Saturday February 12th.

Gerhart, a Lebanon, Pennsylvania native, has won the Daytona race six times so he knows the type of preparation that goes into winning it. This is something that he has done each year for awhile now with brother and crew chief Bill Gerhart.

“We’re taking just one car to the test,” Bill Gerhart told the ARCA Racing Network. “It’s the car we’re going to race at Daytona. It’s actually last year’s Daytona spare. We’ve practiced and tested the car, but we’ve never raced it. But when we took it back for the test (at Daytona) it out-performed last year’s winner (car). We built the car new; we’ve just never raced it. Sometimes it happens that way. With the new paving, the track just came to the car. We finally have most of the bugs out of it. We finally got it to go.”

Looking at the test speeds from Daytona, a lot of people have not paid any attention to Gerhart via being mid-pack, though that doesn’t work the No. 5 team.

“We’re not concerned about that at all,” Bill Gerhart said. “You can take all that speed from the test and throw it out the window. Let me put it to this way. Last year, it was the same thing. We came out of the test 28th fastest. We went back for the race and qualified eighth with the same speed we tested at. What’s that tell you?”

As a result, the car they are taking to the test and in essence running Daytona, is the car that they felt comfortable with during the test.

“From what we saw in the drafting session, Bobby was able to pass with ease,” Bill Gerhart said. “We were stunned. Out leading the pack, nobody could pass him. I think this year’s race pace could be a half-second faster. Four car packs in the test were running last year’s race pace. Imagine what it will be this year with 20 in a pack.”

For Gerhart Racing, they have decided to focus on comfort and the race rather than speed since from the test, it was clear the Toyotas had the best single car speed runs, led by the Toyotas from Venturini Motorsports.

“Do I think we’ll contend for the pole? I don’t think so, not against the Toyotas; but can we contend for the win? Absolutely,” Bill Gerhart said. “If we’re still happy with the way our car is handling in tomorrow’s test we may load up after 10 laps and head for home. We actually made some rear suspension adjustments after the Daytona test, so we think we’re going to be even better. But if our car is going to perform like we think it’s going to, we won’t need a lot of laps tomorrow. Just head for home, do the final paint work, decal it, and we’ll be ready to go.

“Last year’s winning car was designed for the bumps and a slick track. But this year, the game has completely changed, so we had to make some changes. Our Lucas Oil-Slick Mist Chevrolet is going to be very good. It’s going to be a hell of a race; I can promise you that.”

In 15 starts at Daytona, the series veteran has six wins, eight top fives, 12 top 10s and an average finish of 6.1 while leading 401 laps out of the 1141 laps he has run. Gerhart has only one other ARCA Series win which came at Daytona’s sister track, Talladega.

Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam began its Canadian trip with two shows at the Rogers Center in Toronto, Ontario Jan. 22 and 23.

The Jan. 22 racing was won by eight-time champion Tom Meents, driving ‘Maximum Destruction', while 2008 Freestyle Champion Adam Anderson won Freestyle, driving ‘Grave Digger: The Legend’. Anderson got a score of 34 while Meents took second with a score of 33.

The Jan. 23 racing was jam-packed full of action from one end to the other.

The pit party was jam-packed full of fans as some found themselves waiting 30-40 minutes to meet Meents, who was making his first-ever appearance during his career in Toronto.

Right away, action took the track by storm when the show started as the racing was close in each round. In the end, though, it came down to a classic battle for the fans, as Meents and Anderson met in the finals for the win after Meents beat Anderson’s teammate Charlie Pauken, who was driving Grave Digger, in the semifinals.

Claiming round one of the Anderson-Meents rivalry for day two was Meents as he took the win to sweep both racing victories.

“I had pizza across the street Friday night—set the tone for the whole weekend,” Meents told the crowd afterwards. “Tough to win out there, big track layout, truck's running awesome—Brandon Lambert is doing a great job. Thanks to the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam fans in Toronto for getting me jacked up to run it like that.

"It's all about Toronto—never been here before, thanks for having me. Woo!”
    
During the half-time break, Robosaurus, the car-eating dinosaur, made his first appearance in Toronto in 10 years as he attacked two cars, chopping them both in half. He was followed by the Jet Engine Quads, who stormed the building with their noise as they blasted from one end of the arena to the other.
 
Freestyle action then opened up, which proved to be an amazing show.
 
Starting out in her first year, Becky McDonough wowed the crowd in her Dragon’s Breath truck as she soared to high heights, taking the early lead. Looking to overtake her early was Scott Beutow, driving Iron Man, as he came out strong, soaring even higher, though a flip early in the run resulted in a low score.

The honor of taking the lead went to Anderson, as he soared to heights that other drivers had not yet hit and found tricks in the bag that had yet to be tried. With a score of 35, he was crowned the new leader.

Next up was Meents, who was trying to double-down, though he was bit by the mechanical bug. Forty seconds into the run, Meents went after the bus stack but hit it the wrong way, resulting in a major frontend mechanical failure.

He wanted to continue his run and try to still beat Anderson’s score, though officials wouldn’t allow him for safety reasons.

“Tom was upset he couldn't keep going for you guys,” Anderson said afterwards. “He can't stand it; it's burning him up inside so bad right now. Heck, the next time I meet with that guy I know I better watch out.”

Taking the final shot at Anderson was set to be Pauken, driving Grave Digger. Pauken drove straight out of his parked spot over the first small jump. He then went after the bus stack, where he soared over, making a save that could very well be considered for best save of the year.

After saving it and despite the truck not being too damaged, Pauken drove off the track through the tunnel, leaving the arena. Everybody thought it was over for Team Grave Digger, though that wasn’t to be.

Seconds later, two Grave Digger trucks came flying out of the tunnel, with Pauken leading the other truck. Pauken made one final jump and parked his truck while the other truck completed the run, completing classic Grave Digger moves that have won the team multiple wins.

At the end of the run, it was discovered that driving the second Grave Digger truck was team driver Randy Brown.

"He didn't have a show,” Pauken said. “I figured to help him out here."
 
To qualify for the World Finals in Las Vegas in March, each driver needs to have a certain amount of points in comparison to his rivals. Pauken is already set to go as defending champion after taking the Freestyle championship last year with Monster Mutt.

Three-time champion and series veteran Dennis Anderson is set qualified, and was running the Tampa show on the same weekend. Brown is the only driver yet qualified into World Finals and was set to run Minneapolis, however, with the roof caving on that arena, the show was canceled. As a team, the call was made to help out Brown with qualifying.

"I thank him a lot for the opportunity,” Brown said. “When the show got canceled in Minneapolis, he said to me, 'Hey, if you're not doing anything, why don't you come run Toronto?' I double-downed here twice last year, I figured I'd come raise the roof a little bit more."

With making the driver switch midway through the run, Grave Digger’s score wasn’t allowed to be submitted, so second-generation driver Adam Anderson took the win in Freestyle competition to sweep the Freestyle rounds for the weekend.

“It doesn't get any better than this,” Anderson said. “First time in Toronto—to take the win with a new team here."

“We're working hard here, and both of these wins get credit to that guy,” he continued while pointing to his crew chief. “He worked on that truck and did it for all of you guys here so we could put on a show just like that."

Monster Jam has always appealed to kids and adults alike by the type of destruction that is possible, the stunts that the drivers make them capable of and the noise and horsepower under the trucks.

If you haven’t seen a Monster Jam show, then you’re definitely missing out on something, as it is a totally different experience everybody should go for.

Check out http://www.monsterjam.com for more information and to find a show near you.

Tony Marks Racing let it known right away at the first test for the 2011 season that they weren't fooling around, despite being the newest ARCA multi-car racing team.

They entered the test armed with three drivers—veteran Chase Austin, CRA competitor Jared Marks and Canadian Tire Series driver Maryeve Dufault.

At the end the test, they had made their presence known as Dufault led the TMR charge by placing her No. 12b Tony Marks Racing Dodge Charger into 28th out of 58 competitors after posting her fastest lap at 49.203 seconds at 182.916 miles per hour. With her speed, she edged out nine-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel and the defending series champion Patrick Sheltra, though also sat second fastest of the six females on hand. Her teammates Marks and Austin ranked 41st and 42nd respectively overall as the team leaned more towards comfort rather than speed for the test.

“Overall, we’re completely satisfied with the way the test came out,” said Tony Marks, owner of Tony Marks Racing. “Chase, Jared and Maryeve all did an exceptional job shaking the car down and producing great feedback. I appreciate Chase being here with the team as a driver coach to the future of our great program. Maryeve did exactly what she needed to do and we believe she gained a lot of respect from her competitors.”

Jared Marks, the youngest of the three drivers, is allowed to test but cannot race on the superspeedways till he turns 18, as per ARCA rules. He is allowed till then to run the short track races to gain experience.

“Jared will run some ARCA races later this year and we wanted to make sure he was comfortable in the car not to mention gather priceless seat time," Tony Marks said. We’ll be back next month and hope we can continue to gain the trust and respect of our competitors while also deliver solid results for our team partners.”

Dufault, a native of Los Angeles, spent the 2010 racing in the Canadian Tire Series on various short tracks and road courses. Though she has now moved to the ARCA Series, hoping to gain more experience and respect as she continues her climb up the racing ladder.  

“I’m really happy with the progression we had at the test," she said. "I felt really comfortable in the car and I achieved what I wanted to do. I cannot say enough about the Tony Marks Racing team. They did an amazing job. They’ve worked really hard despite having very little time to put the car together. We showed we had a very competitive piece. I really have a positive feeling for us for the race.”

TMR plans to take two of three cars and run them in the season opener at Daytona next month with Dufault and possibly Austin as her teammate. Team officials said they would release the schedule later this year, but said that Marks will be behind the wheel of the second car for at least 11 races.

Though they don't plan on relaxing from now till Daytona as the Napoleon, Ohio-based team spent Monday testing at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, shaking down their short track program with their three drivers.

While Venturini Motorsports took top honors in the single-car runs, Grant Enfinger's team took top honors in drafting.

Yesterday, Benny Gordon drove Grant Enfinger's car to the lead position and has the quickest overall draft speed at a lap of 48.414 seconds.

Today, Grant Enfinger drove his own car to the top of the charts and second overall at a lap of 48.418 seconds.

Brian Rose and James Hylton were tied for second in the session at 48.664 seconds (184.942 mph). Joey Licata, Jr., Jason Bowles, Milka Duno, Kevin Swindell, Randy Renfrow, Brent Brevak, and Bobby Gerhart comprised the remainder of the top 10.

Today concluded the Daytona test for the ARCA Racing Series. The next time they will be at Daytona will be on February 8 to begin preparation for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on February 12.

Overall Draft Speeds

1. 09 Benny Gordon - 48.414 seconds -Wednesday Afternoon
2. 36 Grant Enfinger- 48.418 - Thursday Afternoon
3. 1 Chad McCumbee - 48.427 - Wednesday Afternoon
4. 41b Ty Dillon - 48.431 - Wednesday Afternoon
5. 82 Sean Corr - 48.432 - Wednesday Afternoon
6. 77 Joey Licata, Jr. - 48.473 - Wednesday Afternoon 
7. 58 Chad Hackenbracht - 48.522 - Wednesday Afternoon
8. 55 Hal Martin - 48.609 - Wednesday Afternoon 
9. 15 Kyle Fowler - 48.652 - Wednesday Afternoon 
10. 25 Steve Arpin - 48.660 - Wednesday Afternoon
11. 4 Brian Rose & 48 James Hylton - 48.664 - Thursday Afternoon
12. 63a Milka Duno - 48.673 - Wednesday Afternoon
13. 6 Jason Bowles - 48.724 - Thursday Afternoon
14. 2 Kevin Swindell - 48.727 - Thursday Afternoon
15. 66 Mark Thomson - 48.779 - Wednesday Afternoon
16. 36b Brett Hudson - 48.834 - Wednesday Afternoon
17. 16 Randy Renfrow & 22 Dakoda Armstrong - 48.844 - Wednesday Afternoon
18. 3 Brent Brevak - 48.960 - Thursday Afternoon
19. 11 Bryan Silas - 49.031 - Thursday Afternoon
20. 31 Tim Geroge - 49.084 - Wednesday Afternoon
21. 5a Bobby Gerhart - 49.175 - Thursday Afternoon
22. 68 Steve Blackburn - 49.142 - Wednesday Afternoon
23. 17b Chris Buescher & 5c Damon Lusk - 49.191 - Thursday Afternoon
24. 14b John Ferrier - 49.199 - Wednesday Afternoon
25. 12b Maryeve Dufault - 49.203 - Thursday Afternoon
26. 18e Leilani Munter - 49.501 - Thursday Afternoon
27. 62 Drew Charleson - 49.637 - Wednesday Afternoon
28. 14a John Graham - 49.690 - Wednesday Afternoon
29. 10b Rick Clifton - 49.724 - Wednesday Afternoon
30. 18a Ryan Glenski - 49.760 - Thursday Afternoon
31. 10a Ed Pompa - 49.762 - Wednesday Afternoon
32. 12a Jarod Marks - 49.781 - Wednesday Afternoon
33. 75b Benny Chastain - 49.788 - Wednesday Afternoon
34. 95 Tommy Joe Martins - 49.927 - Wednesday Afternoon
35. 18d Jill Georgs - 50.417 - Wednesday Afternoon
36. 3a Bobby Dale Earnhardt - 50.452 - Thursday Afternoon
37. 18d Sloan Henderson - 50.532 - Thursday Afternoon
38. 80a Ricky Byers - 50.627 - Wednesday Afternoon
39. 75a Hannah Baker - 50.661 - Wednesday Afternoon
40. 80c Chris Davis - 50.870  - Thursday Afternoon
41. 80 Russell Henderson - 59.108 - Wednesday Afternoon

Wednesday afternoon's test session for the ARCA Racing Series at Daytona International Speedway marked the first draft session, as the other three sessions were just comprised of single car runs.

The highest speeds were set in the final hour as five cars set out to draft tightly together.

Benny Gordon topped the list with a lap of 48.414 seconds (185.897 seconds). Gordon is looking to make his first ARCA Racing Series start after running some races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

"We have, obviously, a really good car right now," Gordon told the ARCA Racing Network. "We did a lot of qualifying runs the first thing this morning and the car's pretty decent by itself, but the car's extremely fast in the draft. We hung around that top 10 in qualifying trim and qualifying runs, but in the draft, it was really good."

He edged Chad McCumbee, who had a lap of 48.427 seconds (185.847 mph). McCumbee also had some NASCAR experience in the Camping World Truck Series and also has some previous starts in the ARCA Series. In the final five races of last season, he finished in the top 10 in all of those starts.

"It's so far, so good," McCumbee said. "The Andy Belmont Racing guys have really worked over the offseason and we've brought in some new people. The first couple days working with (crew chief) Wayne Carroll have been great. We're still off from where we'd like to be, obviously. We've got some more to do that we haven't shown."

Other drivers who were in that draft were Ty Dillion, Sean Corr and Joey Licata Jr. They were followed on the charts by Chad Hackenbracht, Hal Martin, Kyle Fowler, and Steve Arpin. The speeds for the top nine were all higher than what has been seen so far, which is expected due to draft speeds always being higher.

IndyCar Driver Milka Duno rounded out the top 10, matching her previous best mark of 48.673 seconds.

Other notables include six-time Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart, who finished the session 25th, while nine-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel elected not to participate in the afternoon session. Kimmel wasn't the only one opting out, as many drivers did not participate or chose to make single-car runs.

In all, 39 drivers turned laps in 42 different cars in the afternoon session.

Open testing for teams and drivers will conclude Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. Only single-car runs will be allowed in the morning, and drafting will be permitted in the afternoon.

DAYTONA INT'L SPEEDWAY TEST - 1/11-13/11
ARCA RACING SERIES PRESENTED BY MENARDS
JANUARY 12, 2011, AFTERNOON SESSION
	CAR #	DRIVER	MAKE	TIME	SPEED
1	09	Benny Gordon	Ford	48.414	185.897
2	1	Chad McCumbee	Ford	48.427	185.847
3	41b	Ty Dillon	Chevy	48.431	185.831
4	82	Sean Corr	Ford	48.432	185.828
5	77	Joey Licata, Jr.	Dodge	48.473	185.670
6	58	Chad Hackenbracht	Chevy	48.522	185.483
7	55	Hal Martin	Toyota	48.609	185.151
8	15	Kyle Fowler	Chevy	48.652	184.987
9	25	Steve Arpin	Toyota	48.660	184.957
10	63a	Milka Duno	Dodge	48.673	184.907
11	66	Mark Thompson	Toyota	48.779	184.506
12	6	Jason Bowles	Toyota	48.834	184.298
13	36b	Brett Hudson	Dodge	48.834	184.298
14	16b	Randy Renfrow	Chevy	48.844	184.260
15	22	Dakoda Armstrong	Dodge	48.844	184.260
16	3	Brent Brevak	Dodge	48.962	183.816
17	4	Brian Rose	Toyota	48.965	183.805
18	36	Grant Enfinger	Dodge	49.000	183.673
19	11	Bryan Silas	Ford	49.031	183.557
20	54	Will Vaught	Chevy	49.044	183.509
21	16	Randy Renfrow	Chevy	49.060	183.449
22	31	Tim George	Chevy	49.084	183.359
23	68	Steve Blackburn	Dodge	49.142	183.143
24	14b	John Ferrier	Ford	49.199	182.931
25	5a	Bobby Gerhart	Chevy	49.578	181.532
26	62	Drew Charleson	Chevy	49.637	181.316
27	14a	John Graham	Ford	49.690	181.123
28	10b	Rick Clifton	Chevy	49.724	180.999
29	08	James Hylton	Ford	49.776	180.810
30	12a	Jarod Marks	Dodge	49.781	180.792
31	75b	Benny Chastain	Chevy	49.788	180.766
32	10a	Ed Pompa	Chevy	49.762	180.681
33	17a	Chris Buescher	Ford	49.814	180.672
34	95	Tommy Joe Martins	Dodge	49.927	180.263
35	12b	Maryeve Dufault	Dodge	49.936	180.231
36	17b	Chris Buescher	Ford	50.254	179.090
37	18d	Jill Georgs	Ford	50.417	178.511
38	5c	Damon Lusk	Chevy	50.426	178.479
39	80a	Ricky Byers	Ford	50.627	177.771
40	75a	Hannah Baker	Chevy	50.661	177.651
41	48	James Hylton	Ford	51.685	174.132
42	80	Russell Henderson	Ford	59.108	152.264

Kyle Fowler led the speed charts following Day 1 and after the morning session Day 2, Fowler was still on top of the standings.

Fowler completed 12 laps in the morning session on Wednesday with a best lap of 48.668 seconds (184.926 mph). This lap stands as the best of the two days, also.

"I'm really pleased with (Kyle) Fowler in the 15,” general manager Billy Venturini said. “That's been a real pleasant surprise. That car has been awfully good, and was really good in the wind tunnel. It's good to see a kid that's never been here before run that well.”

His teammate Hal Martin ran 15 laps to end up second on the charts with a lap of 48.697 seconds (184.816 mph).

"Wow, we have fast cars! The PME engine we're using, that's a lot of horses under the hood," Martin told the ARCA Racing Network. "The car is driving really well; we're hugging the yellow line and slamming the nose to the ground into the corners. It's driving really fast and flat into the turns. We're going to continue with single-car lines this afternoon. I'm looking forward to it. It's been a really solid day so far."

The 25-year old Louisiana native will race five races for Venturini Motorsports in 2011—Daytona, Talladega, Chicagoland, Pocono and Michigan.

"I'm really looking forward to hitting the track again at Daytona," Martin said. "I had a bit of a head start on the field by being able to participate in the Hoosier Tire test here in December for Venturini Motorsports, so I feel I had a good chance to get somewhat acclimated to the track with some laps logged."

Martin has made six career ARCA Racing Series starts, including one with Venturini. He finished 10th at Talladega last season.

"We've got strong talent among all of our drivers, and our reputation stands behind the equipment and support we're able to provide each and every one of them,” Tom Venturini, a team representative said.

“Hal has proven his talent for our organization in the past, as well as on the Gulf Coast Late Model tracks. We're really excited to see how he'll perform this season. He has tremendous talent. We're hopeful he will not only add more top-10s to that resume, but also top-fives and maybe even a trip to Victory Lane.”

Along with Martin, Venturini Motorsports will run rookies Alastair Jackson, Max Gresham, and Darren Hagen in the 2011 season.

Richard Childress Racing development driver Tim George Jr. drove 11 laps to end up third on the charts with a lap of 48.985 seconds (183.73 mph).

"That's the car we ran at Talladega, and it was really fast at Talladega,” George said after yesterday’s test. “I was comfortable with the car right out of the box; it's not like getting used to a new car. I've been running the banking for the past four days here in the Rolex Series, and we were third on the board there, so it feels good to be back on top of the board with a different tire and a different car.”

Venturini Motorsports driver Steve Arpin finished the morning fourth with a lap of 49.222 seconds (182.845 mph) while Cunningham Motorsports’ driver Dakoda Armstrong ended up fifth with a lap of 49.438 seconds (182.046 mph).

Armstrong, the 2010 ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year, plans to run both the February 12 Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway and the April 15th Talladega ARCA 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, as according to Cunningham Motorsports. Armstrong won two races—Talladega Superspeedway and Salem Speedway —last year for them driving the No. 22. 

Scott Stenzel, Ty Dillon, Joey Licata Jr., Grant Enfinger and Ryan Glenski rounded out the top 10 for the morning.

For Dillon, it marked his first laps ever on a Superspeedway as he looks to run his first full ARCA racing season.

"It's awesome,” Dillon said of the experience yesterday.

“It's really exciting. You go really fast. The track's really smooth, so it's fairly easy to get up to speed. We have a good car and there's still some speed to gain. We're just going to keep working on it. I just want to learn. I've got to learn to make our car better, and I've got to learn a lot, especially in the draft. We'll just get as many laps as we can get and hopefully keep it up." 

Dillon’s teammate George Jr. said he looks forward to working with Dillon after having some years of ARCA experience under his belt.

"He's been racing cars way longer than I have,” George said. “You know, he's much younger than I am. I'm going to lean on him for some stuff and he'll probably lean on me for some stuff on the road courses and maybe the superspeedways.

"There's a lot that he's done in his racing career that I'm looking forward to doing, including winning in the ARCA Racing Series. It'll be good to have support between him and I, and I'm looking forward to it.”

IndyCar star Milka Duno was 16th on the speed charts today after being in the top 10 throughout the day yesterday.

"It was a good practice today and I was very impressed with the team and how professional they were," Duno said yesterday. "We are looking for more speed and will work hard over the next two days to get faster. It was great to get Patrick's input, and it was a big help. He's the 2010 champion, and he knows what to do."

Other notables include six-time Daytona ARCA winner Bobby Gerhart ended the three-hour session tied for 21st, at 50.007 seconds (179.975 mph), and nine-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel finished 36th, at 50.733 seconds (177.399 mph).

"Well, we wanted to go out and make sure the thing runs real fast,” Kimmel said. “Unfortunately, it's not running real fast right now. We've got some work to do. This is the car we tore up here last year in the race. We qualified 13th, and we expect to be there or in the top 10 by the time we're done. We have some work to do right now.”

Drafting testing will take place this afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m. and lasting for four hours. A maximum of six cars per pack will be allowed to test.