TEMPERANCE, Mich. — The ARCA Menards Series opens its 2025 season with a two-day pre-race practice session at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 9 and 10. A third day, Saturday, Jan. 11, is reserved as a rain date.
The two-day session will be the prelude to the season-opening Daytona ARCA 200, the 62nd ARCA Menards Series race to be held at the legendary “World Center of Racing” since 1964.
As has been customary, participants from various NASCAR- and ARCA-sanctioned touring series will participate in the two-day session as part of the series’ Road to Daytona program. In 2025, drivers from the ARCA Menards Series East and West, ASA CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Southern Super Series, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series will be invited to take laps in race-ready cars prepared by two-time Daytona ARCA 200 winner and 1995 ARCA Menards Series champion Andy Hillenburg.
This year, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour runner-up Justin Bonsignore leveraged his Road to Daytona participation into his first career ARCA Menards Series start, where he ran as high as sixth during the Daytona race, followed by two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Other Road to Daytona participants over the years include former ARCA Menards Series East champions and current NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski, fellow Craftsman Truck Series drivers Layne Riggs and Derek Knaus, former Snowball Derby winner and current road mechanic for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 team Travis Braden, 2023 Daytona ARCA 200 winner Greg Van Alst and 2024 ASA CRA Super Series champion Chase Burda and super late model ace Johnny Van Doorn.
The list of 2025 Road to Daytona participants will be released in the coming weeks.