DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Gus Dean won a wild Daytona ARCA 200 on Saturday morning, outlasting a stout field of cars that was thinned by several multi-car incidents.
Dean, 29, from Bluffton, S.C., took the lead from Venturini Motorsports teammate Jake Finch on an overtime restart, and cruised to the victory when the race was slowed for a crash entering turn three which froze the field at the time of caution.
The first multi-car crash erupted on lap four after contact in the pack sent Dean out of control into his teammate Toni Breidinger.
Breidinger lost control in front of the pack, sweeping up nearly a dozen cars in the aftermath including Chicago Street Race winner Shane Van Gisbergen. As the field slowed for the mid-race scheduled caution, Marco Andretti was spun out of the pack down the backstretch, sending several cars sliding into the infield grass. General Tire Pole Award winner Willie Mullins was also involved in a hard crash with Scott Melton just past the race’s midway point, and the final incident on the last lap involved Finch, 2023 series runner-up Andres Perez, Lavar Scott, Ryan Huff, and Andy Jankowiak, all of whom were battling inside the top five at the time.
“I came here with a purpose this week,” Dean said after the race. “I started racing when I was four years old at a tiny dirt track in Georgia, and my granddad came to every single race I ever ran. At every race, even right up to the very end, he told me at every race to get what I can. Tonight, we got what we could.”
Thomas Annunziata finished second in his ARCA Menards Series debut, followed by defending race winner Greg Van Alst, Christian Rose, and front row starter Tim Richmond.
Jason Kitzmiller finished sixth, followed by Luxembourg native Gil Linster, Alex Clubb, Amber Balcaen, and Andy Jankowiak.
The race was moved up to Friday due to an unfavorable forecast on Saturday, eventually going green just before midnight on Friday evening.
The numerous cautions, nine total, pushed the race to a conclusion just shy of 2 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, holding the average speed to just 98.949 miles per hour. Dean’s margin of victory, under caution, was officially 0.441 seconds.