DAYTONA BEACH FL (2-8-08)?ARCA RE/MAX Series veteran Justin Marks, in the No. 65 Voodoo Ride Toyota, earned the SIM Factory Pole Award at Daytona Int?l Speedway on Friday afternoon, circling the 2.5-mile speedway in 49.632 seconds for a speed of 181.334 mph in his Germain Racing prepared entry. Marks? time was good enough to eclipse the 49.637 second lap (181.316 mph) of series rookie and former Formula One driver Scott Speed, who starts on the outside front row in the No. 2 Red Bull Toyota.
?It?s any racer?s dream to sit on the pole at Daytona,? said Marks. ?The Germain Racing guys have worked so hard preparing for this event. I?m proud of all of their work and it showed today. The Voodoo Ride Camry is real good in the draft and I?m excited about what tomorrow may bring. The biggest thing for us coming down here is that we wanted to start up front; we don?t want to be deep in the pack on Saturday. It?s a bonus to sit on the pole.
?I think it?s big for the team to sit on the pole. This race and Talladega, these are races that are won by the teams. This is big for all three Germain Racing teams. For me, we came down here to try to sit on the pole, and we came down here to try and win the race. Just to try and make this transition [from full time ARCA RE/MAX Series competitor in 2007 to full time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor in 2008] as easy as possible and as smooth as possible is very much what we want.?
Speed, in the No. 2 Red Bull Toyota, will start on the outside pole on Saturday, marking his second career ARCA RE/MAX Series start. He finished seventh in his series debut at Talladega Superspeedway in October.
?I think qualifying here and at Talladega is pretty much the same,? said Speed. ?This is a testament to all of the testing the team has done. Superspeedway racing is not going to be our strong point this year so to sit second is a testament for sure. ESR (Eddie Sharp Racing) has really stepped up their program.
?Red Bull has been amazing to me, I?m pretty sure I have Red Bull in my blood. It?s important for us and Red Bull to be in a competitive situation. When Red Bull and I decided we wanted to do this we took our time to decide what we wanted to do. Because these cars are so similar to the Cup car, and because this series races on so many different types of tracks, from superspeedways, to dirt tracks to short tracks, we decided this [The ARCA RE/MAX Series] was the best place for us to be right now.?
Michael Annett will start third in Saturday?s ARCA 200 at Daytona in a No. 28 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, followed by series veteran Bobby Gerhart, the defending race winner at Daytona. Max Dumarey starts fifth in the No. 94 Body Coach Ford. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Matt Carter, Landon Cassill, Dario Franchitti and Kirk Shelmerdine round out the top-ten qualifiers.
Frank Kimmel, the defending and nine-time series champion, will start 43rd in Saturday?s ARCA 200 at Daytona, utilizing a past champion?s provisional. With the starting field for the ARCA 200 at Daytona limited to 43 starting positions, 22 drivers will be going home early.
The series will hold a final practice session from 5:10-6:15 p.m. before the garage area closes. The ARCA 200 at Daytona is LIVE on SPEED beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
For more information on the ARCA RE/MAX Series, visit www.arcaracing.com.