The ARCA Menards Series held its annual pre-race practice at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway last Thursday and Friday, where 70 drivers were in attendance.
The season opener at Daytona is set for Feb. 15.
Here’s a look at some notes from the practice sessions:
- Amber Balcaen (No. 70A Nitro Motorsports Toyota) was the fastest of 70 drivers that took time in the two-day ARCA Menards Series Pre-Race Practice at Daytona International Speedway. Balcaen turned her fast lap, 49.102 seconds/183.292 miles per hour, in a tight draft with her Nitro Motorsports teammate Thad Moffitt and fellow Toyota drivers out of the Venturini Motorsports stable.
- Eighteen-year-old Chase Pinsonnault (No. 15 Venturini Motorsports Toyota) made a strong debut in the ARCA Menards Series, timing in second fastest at 49.226 seconds/182.830 miles per hour. Pinsonnault, a third-generation racer, has driven in the ASA STARS National Tour for NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar; he will make his first career ARCA Menards Series start in the Daytona ARCA 200.
- Balcaen, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Pinsonnault, from Windsor, Ontario, gave Canadian drivers a sweep of the top two positions for the first time in the history of the pre-season practice runs at Daytona International Speedway.
- Willie Mullins (No. 3M Mullins Racing Ford), last year’s General Tire Pole Award winner at Daytona International Speedway, was third fastest at 49.227 seconds/182.826 miles per hour, just one one-thousandth of a second off the pace set by Chase Pinsonnault.
- Lawless Alan (No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota), 2024 Talladega Superspeedway winner Jake Finch (No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Toyota), and Isabella Robusto (No. 55R Venturini Motorsports Toyota) were fourth through sixth in the overall results. VMS had four of the top six drivers, all from Thursday’s session.
- KLAS Motorsports had its two drivers in the Pre-Race Practice both in the top ten; the team’s regular driver Andy Jankowiak (No. 73J KLAS Motorsports Ford) was seventh fastest in the draft on Thursday, while newcomer Vincent Arthur (No. 73A KLAS Motorsports Chevrolet) was ninth overall.
- NASCAR Xfinity Series hotshoe and utility crewmember in virtually every major motorsports series in America Brad Perez (No. 3P Mullins Racing Chevrolet) teamed up with team co-owner Willie Mullins in a right draft and set the eighth fastest lap of the week at 49.308 seconds/182.526 miles per hour.
- Kole Raz (No. 76 AM Racing Ford) rounded out the top ten at 49.536 seconds/181.686 miles per hour.
- Jeff Scofield (No. 07 Finney Racing Chevrolet), Jason Kitzmiller (No. 97 CR7 Racing Chevrolet), and Katherine Legge (No. 23 SPS Chevrolet) rounded out the top 13 on the speed chart, all setting their fast laps on Thursday. Dale Quarterley (No. 4 Quarterley Racing Chevrolet) turned in the 14th-fastest lap and was the fastest driver in Friday’s session.
- Other notable drivers in the two-day session included Thad Moffitt in 17th, Hendrick Motorsports development driver Corey Day in 19th, Joe Gibbs Racing youngsters Brent Crews and William Sawalich in 20th and 21st respectively, Pinnacle Racing Group’s Brenden Queen – who will race for the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2025 – and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves in 26th and 27th.
- Seven drivers representing regional and grassroots racing series made laps in the ARCA Menards Series Road to Daytona program, led by Trevor Huddleston who was 39th overall. The other six drivers, Ty Fredrickson, Dustin Smith, Burt Myers, Zachary Tinkle, Austin Beers, and Chase Burda, all ran approximately 100 miles in single-car runs in cars prepared by 1995 ARCA Menards Series champion Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track High Performance Racing Team.
