ARCA RE/MAX

ARCA driver Brad Smith reportedly suffered a fractured ankle Friday during a scary crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He remains hospitalized as a result of the injury.

Continue for updates.

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Smith Has Broken Ankle, Still in Hospital

Saturday, May 2

Jeff Gluck of USA Today provided the details of the incident:

Late in the race, as Austin Wayne Self's car spun out and moved up the 2.66-mile trioval, Smith stayed in the gas to try and drive through. But he hit Self's car instead, resulting in a stuck throttle that sent him careening toward an inside wall.

Smith's car got air from a drainage ditch and crushed the SAFER barrier-protected wall nearly head on, then rocketed back onto the track. It caught fire, but Smith was able to guide it back down onto the apron.

He and ESPN's Bob Pockrass also passed along the latest update on the driver's status:

ARCA driver Brad Smith suffered a fractured left ankle in yesterday’s crash. He remains hospitalized.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) May 2, 2015

ARCA announces that Brad Smith had surgery overnight for injuries to both ankles and a laceration to left ankle. He is in stable condition.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 2, 2015

According to the report, Smith is an ARCA veteran who has raced on the circuit since 1998. There was no timetable immediately given for his release from the hospital or his potential return to the track after the injury.  

Bobby Gerhart pulled off an improbable victory at the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, starting off the 2012 ARCA season with his eighth win at Daytona International Speedway.

Gerhart claimed pole position on Friday after posting an insanely fast lap of 183.479 mph. Unfortunately, his engine failed the post-race inspection, and Gerhart was forced to start 42nd.

However, that didn't stop the seasoned vet from adding another memorable victory to his resume. He took advantage of some poor decisions by other drivers and executed a textbook sling shot maneuver on the final lap to move from fifth to first.

The wild finish amazed everyone, including Dave Rodman of Nascar.com.

Holy Smokes! Bobby Gerhart proves for the 8th time @DISupdates that old age,treachery, great pit strategy and #badass crew chief prevail

It was the eighth time Gerhart took first place at Daytona. As one race fan identified only as "Tony" pointed out, Gerhart would own ARCA if they had more races on the legendary track.

Too bad for Bobby Gerhart that ARCA doesn't only run at Daytona.

Unfortunately for Gerhart, ARCA likes to throw a little diversity into their season.

What It Means

Gerhart started off 2012 on the right foot, but his past success at Daytona hasn't always translated to a big year. It will be interesting to see if he can build on this momentum.

Although Gerhart will get all the headlines, Drew Charlson (second), Brett Hudson (third) and Nelson Canache (fourth) all had solid races.

What's Next

Next up is the the Mobile ARCA 200 at Mobile International Speedway. The race will be held on March 10.

The ARCA Racing Series is nearing the start of its season. Like NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, it opens at the Daytona International Speedway and is part of the week-long Daytona 500 experience. 

ARCA's opening race is the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, which is an 80-lap, 200-mile race. Past champions include NASCAR stars Ryan Newman (2001) and Kyle Busch (2004). Joey Logano also has a runner-up performance in this race to his name, which came in 2009. That was the same year he won the Sprint Cup Series' Rookie of the Year. 

Bobby Gerhart won the race in 2011 and 2010, and has recorded five wins since 2005 and seven overall.

Where: Daytona International Speedway. Daytona Beach, FLA

When: Saturday, Feb. 18 at 4:30 p.m. EST

Watch: Speed TV

Lineup

Defending champion Bobby Gerhart leads a field of 43 racers. Unfortunately for Gerhart, a disqualification in qualifying is causing him to start from the No. 42 spot.

Sean Corr has the pole position while Ryan Reed joins him on the front row. 

A list of the full field, their starting position and qualifying times can be found at ARCAracing.com.

What They're Saying

Godwin Kelly of the Daytona Beach News-Journal wrote that this is a big event for more than just the ARCA series, but that it can also be a nice view of the future. 

NASCAR teams will use the ARCA 200 event to give their up and coming talent a taste of Daytona's 31-degree high banks. Danica Patrick made her first stock car start in the 2010 race. She finished sixth. Kyle Petty, Richard Petty's son, made his first stock car start in the 1979 ARCA 200 and won the race.

Dark horse: Steve Blackburn

His car is always extremely fast and this year is no different. Blackburn is starting from the No. 3 position, so he has a great chance to win. His lack of history here has come from bad luck in terms of accidents. If he stays out of trouble, Blackburn will be hard to beat. 

Prediction: Chris Buescher

It might seem tough to pick against Gerhart in this race given his phenomenal history, but starting from the back of the field is going to be too much to overcome. 

Buescher is the reigning series Rookie of the Year, is starting from a good position (number eight), and had an impressive second-place performance in 2011's event. He will emerge victorious in this field, getting his 2012 season off on a good note.

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After having the past two weeks go solidly for the CGH Motorsports, Chad Hackenbracht is ready to return to short track racing this weekend at Winchester Speedway to run Saturday night's Winchester ARCA 200, presented by Federated Auto Parts.

The last time the series was at a short track, the 19-year old qualified ninth and spent most of the night in the top five, before mechanical failure ended the night early. Since then, the team has bounced back well and been finishing solidly, including a fourth place finish at Michigan International Speedway last Friday.

“We’ve enjoyed these last couple of races,” Hackenbracht said as per team release. “The CGH Motorsports team has done an incredible job preparing our race cars and the experience of Rob (Torrey, crew chief) and Kevin (Reed, director of competition) has definitely propelled this team to new heights. I’m looking forward to what Saturday night may bring for us.”

After the first top—five finish of his career, Hackenbracht moved up from 11th to ninth in the points.

“We’re solidly in the top-10, which was one of our goals when the season started,” Hackenbracht said. “There’s a long way to the top, but we just need to keep performing and hope that the points will take care of themselves.” 

The success has brought Hackenbracht into the spotlight, including a newly released t-shirt released by the team (which can be purchased by logging on to store.cghmotorsports.com or CGHMotorsports.com). After SPEED made a mistake with the pronunciation of the name, they titled the shirt 'What’s A Chad Hacken-Something'. The shirt has sparked a lot of discussion as SPEED even did a segment on it.

“I’m glad that everyone is really enjoying the shirts,” Hackenbracht said. “We were trying to do something out of the box and we came up with this. We’re going to get the shirt in some more colors and fans can now purchase the shirts on our website.”

Though to keep the success, CGH Motorsports knows they need to keep digging hard and that's why they tested at Winchester, as they believe that seat time is one of the keys to success.

“Testing always helps, especially at places you’ve never been before,” Hackenbracht said. “I was able to get acquainted with Winchester and man is that place fast. It reminds me some of Salem, but it has its own character for sure. The changes we made to the car during the test responded well, so I’m antsy to get back in the car on Saturday.”

Despite the success, Hackenbracht is still seeking sponsorship for the season. Single, multi and full—season placements are available on the team’s No. 58 entries. Interested parties are urged to contact Jordan Dahl at 570.234.5449 or jordan@cghmotorsports.com. 

The Winchester ARCA 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts (200 laps / 100 miles) is the ninth of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 22nd ARCA race at Winchester is a one—day show. Practice begins Saturday, June 25 with a one hour and half practice session planned from 1:45 p.m.—3:15 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin later in the day at 4:45 p.m.

The field will take the green flag later that night, shortly after 8:00 p.m. The race will not be televised, but event coverage, including live timing and scoring throughout the 1,321st race for the ARCA Racing Series—presented by Menards since it was formed in 1953—will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com, presented by ARCANation.com.  All times are local.

For more information on Chad Hackenbracht and CGH Motorsports, please visit ChadHackenbracht.com and CGHMotorsports.com.

Tweet with Chad Hackenbracht through Twitter at @ChadH58 or CGH Motorsports @CGH5858.

Last weekend at Chicagoland, it looked like everything would be coming together for Chad Hackenbracht as he had led 45 consecutive laps and had a nine second lead over second place. Though that all fell apart when the right front tire on his automobile popped and blew those chances at winning away.

“It’s still really tough to swallow what happened last week," the 19-year-old said in the team's press release. "But we can’t dwell on it much longer, we have to get back in the saddle.”

For ARCA fans, it was almost the Cinderella story before their eyes, with the family-owned team of CGH Motorsports now heading to Pocono Raceway, ready to prove it wasn't a fluke on Saturday afternoon.

“Thankfully, we’re going to Pocono Raceway this weekend and I love that place," he added. "It’s such a different type of place but I think that’s why I enjoy it so much.”

After what happened last week, the New Philadelphia, Ohio native says that he and crew chief Rob Torrey are ready to attack and try to get the win.

“Rob, Kevin (Reed, director of competition) and the entire CGH Motorsports team are bringing another stout piece to the track this weekend and our engine should be just as strong if not stronger this weekend," he said. "It sure would be nice to get some redemption from last weekend. If we can’t, we’re hoping for a strong top-five run.”

The 20th place finish last weekend at Chicagoland dropped them to 11th in points, so he knows that while going for the win, he also has to play it smart.

“I’m going to race smart because we need to finish the race; we made some serious strides making a huge climb in the point standings," he said. "We need to continue that uphill battle and try and not have any more slides.”

Ever since the beginning of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards in 1953, they have been hitting the road courses and leaving their mark. This weekend, the ARCA cars will hit the New Jersey Motorsports Park course for their first road course race of the season.

For Maryeve Dufault, this weekend will allow her to get back to her racing roots as the Sorel, Quebec Canada native has had past success on the road courses at the open-wheel level.

“I’m very excited about this weekend,” she said. “I enjoy road racing because of its unique characteristics and challenges they present. The Tony Marks Racing (TMR) has prepared me a great Dodge Charger and I think this is one of our best opportunities to get a strong finish.”

Though while having the past experience on the road courses, she also knows that she has to watch for the differences between open-wheel and full-body cars.

“Yes, I have done a lot of road course racing but I am staying very humble for this weekend,” she mentioned. “It’s not the same type of car and there is a huge difference between open wheel and stock cars. I’m hoping though that the transition will be smooth and we can strut our stuff right from the get go.”

Regardless, she is ready to tackle the road course, whether it be in dry weather or racing in the rain.

“It’s part of the game,” Dufault said. “If we do have to race in the rain, patience is the key. You have to hit your marks every single time and be extremely careful not to make a mistake. I think it will definitely make the race more intense but I feel that we’ll be ready for whatever conditions we’ll have to deal with.”

A solid run would mean a lot to Dufault after two poor finishes the past couple of weekends due to the close racing on the short tracks.

“This is such a great team,” Dufault said. “I don’t think you will find a more determined team in the garage other than Tony Marks Racing. The guys work hard to build me fast Dodge Chargers. We were so competitive at Toledo but didn’t get the finish we wanted or deserved. This weekend, I want to make it up to them and all our sponsors with a gratifying run.”

Car owner Tony Marks says with everything put together, he has good expectations for this weekend.

“This is Maryeve’s forte," he said. "We’re all expecting a great weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park. I know that she is very excited about not only racing at a road course but also having the opportunity to put our season back on track. We have just as good of a shot as anyone for victory on Sunday afternoon!”   

The ModSpace 150 (67 laps / 150 miles) is the fifth of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The fourth ever ARCA event held at New Jersey Motorsports Park is a two-day show. Practice begins Saturday, May 21 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. A final “happy hour” session has been etched in from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.

The field will take the green flag on Sunday May 22 shortly after 1:00 p.m. The race will not be televised but event coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the weekend will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com presented by ARCANation.com.

For more on Maryeve Dufault, please log onto Maryeveracing.com

To learn more about Tony Marks Racing, please click over to Tmr-racing.com

All quotes used as per the article were obtained through the team's pre-race preview.

One look at the results from Daytona and Talladega, you'd think Matt Merrell is a series veteran and has practice on the restrictor plates. New Flash - you're wrong as the Portland, Texas native is only a rookie at this.

Despite that, Merrell finished third at Daytona in February and this past weekend, he finished 10th at Talladega.

Merrell qualified the car 12th, though once the green flag fell, Merrell was up to sixth 16 laps into the event.

The first caution came out on lap 16 for Terry Jones losing a motor, in which crew chief Mike Chaffee brought Merrell down pit road for fuel only. This set Merrell back outside of the top 10 as the leaders stayed out, though he was back up to fifth by lap 27.

Merrell stayed the rest of the day in positions sixth through eighth mostly, till the final restart where he got kicked back to 10th. 

“The race was pretty intense,” Merrell said. “We had a good Champion Brands Toyota Camry, we just couldn’t get lined up with the right partners at the end and it hurt us for a better finish. I continue to be thankful to Champion Brands, Nate (Thiesse, Win-Tron Racing, co-car owner), Kevin (Cywinski, Win-Tron Racing, co-car owner) for the opportunity to drive their race car. I hate that we didn’t get a win or another top-five but we’ve definitely had a good start to the season.”

Nate Thiesse, co-owner and backstretch spotter for Merrell, said that he was impressed with the performance.

“Matt continues to impress everyone at Win-Tron Racing," he said. "He does a magnificent job in the draft. He was able to come from the back to the front on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time. This was our first race with Champion Brands aboard and we’re all happy with the results.”

For Chad Hackenbracht, the first race of the season at Daytona ended in a wreck, which makes this Friday's 3 Amigos 250 at Talladega SuperSpeedway more important to him.

“I’m ready to get back behind the wheel of a race car,” Hackenbracht said. “I cannot tell you the hard work that we’ve put into our superspeedway program over the last two months or so. We’re hoping that with the input of Rob and Kevin, we’ll find ourselves in contention for a good finish Friday afternoon.”

Following the wreck at Daytona, CGH Motorsports isn't sure about their approach to Talladega as they know they may need to be conservative.

“We haven’t really decided on an attack plan for Friday yet,” Hackenbracht said. “We know that we have to finish well to gain some ground in the point standings. There’s a lot that can happen in the race, but we can’t worry about that. We just need to go out there run our race and hope in the end everything falls into place.”

The New Philadelphia, Ohio native thinks he has a good shot, despite missing the test last month.

“We wanted to go and test, but we thought it over and just decided it wasn’t in our best interest,” he explained. “We’re not worried, our car should be fast and we’re looking good for the upcoming races, I just want to go out there and run well.”

The 19-year-old is riding on previous experience at Talladega as last year, he started 41st, stayed out of trouble, and finished 21st.

“I did a lot of learning last year,” Hackenbracht said. “We didn’t have the best piece, but we had a car that I was able to get in the group and draft; learn and finish the race. This year, we’ve stepped up our superspeedway program, so I’m looking forward to putting our CGH Motorsports machine in the lead pack and earning a top-10 finish.”

CGH Motorsports is actively seeking additional marketing partners for the full 2011 ARCA Racing Series schedule. Single, multi and full-season placements are available on the team’s No. 58 entries. Interested parties are urged to contact Jordan Dahl at 570.234.5449 or jordan@cghmotorsports.com. 

The 3 Amigos 250 (94 laps / 250 miles) is the second of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 49th ever ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway is a two-day show. The event will take the green flag this Friday afternoon shortly after 4:00 p.m. The race will be televised live on SPEED with additional live broadcasting available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com in collaboration with Alabama’s local WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM. All times are local (Central).

For more information on Chad Hackenbracht and CGH Motorsports, please visit ChadHackenbracht.com and CGHMotorsports.com.

Connect with Chad Hackenbracht and CGH Motorsports through Facebook by clicking here.

Tweet with Chad Hackenbracht through Twitter at @ChadH58 or CGH Motorsports @CGH5858.

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.