Daytona Beach, FL ? Michael Annett, a former hockey player, powered his way to victory in the wreck-strewn ARCA 200 at the Daytona International Speedway late Saturday afternoon. It was the 45th running of the ARCA RE/MAX Series event.
The 21-year old Iowa driver was behind the wheel of the Pilot Travel Centers Toyota owned by Bill Davis Racing. He led 32 laps and had a commanding lead when the checkered flag dropped.
?We didn?t qualify well but we knew we had a car that would run well in the draft,? Annett said. ?It is pretty cool to win at Daytona. For good luck, our Bill Davis team took the same box they had when Ward Burton won the Daytona 500 for them in 2002. It is an honor to drive for this team.?
To win, Annett had to miss a brace of wrecks and spins. ?I had one close call in a multi-car wreck and I just managed to squeak through. We were at the right place at the right time.?
The winner averaged 114.998 miles per hour and the 80-lap race took one hour and 44 minutes to complete. Six yellow flags slowed the race for 34 laps. The race was stopped once to allow track workers to clean the track after a multi-car wreck decimated the field.
Second place went to Justin Allgaier, who advanced from the 30th starting position. He drove a Chevrolet. ?I made some stupid mistakes in the past, but I have been able to fix these problems. Hopefully, a Cup or CTS team will be interested in me. To finish second here is pretty amazing after qualifying 30th. We had everything to lose if we wrecked toward the end, and by being patient at the end, it worked out well for us.?
Bill Baird, driving a Dodge jointly owned with NASCAR star Kenny Schrader, powered his way to third place. ?I have been working with Schrader since 1997,? he said. ?And my run here wasn?t bad for a 58-year old man. I made some good moves to miss the wrecks and I am happy with the finish, considering I pitted five times and dropped to the back four times.?
Bobby Gerhart, a five-time Daytona winner, salvaged fourth place. ?I missed the big wreck, but I was part of it,? the Pennsylvania driver said. ?It was an exciting race — no doubt about it.?
Fifth place went to nine-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel. He started in last place but steadily worked his way through the pack for a solid finish. ?To come out with a top-five is like a win for us, coming from the back of the field,? he said. ?It is a rewarding day when all your friends come out to help you.?
New Jersey?s Tom Hessert took sixth place ahead of Landon Cassill, Dawayne Bryan, Brad Baker and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti. ?Another car came in contact with me when the entered the pit box in front of me,? Franchitti said. ?It really hurt the handling of the car and I was skating around after that.?
Fast qualifier Justin Marks and front-row starter Scott Speed were eliminated in accidents.
TOP-10 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES POINTS AFTER THE ARCA 200 at DAYTONA (2-9-08): 1) Michael Annett 240; 2) Justin Allgaier 220; 3) Bill Baird 215; 3) Bobby Gerhart 215; 5) Frank Kimmel 205; 6) Tom Hessert III 205; 7) Landon Cassill 195; 8) Dawayne Bryan 190; 9) Brad Baker 185; 10) Dario Franchitti 180.
http://www.arcaracing.com
OFFICIAL RESULTS FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 1 3 28 Michael Annett/Des Moines IA Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 80 Running 2 30 16 Justin Allgaier/Springfield IL AG Tech-Hoosier Tire Midwest Chevrolet 80 Running 3 17 52 Bill Baird/Sarasota FL Saturn Machine Dodge 80 Running 4 4 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 80 Running 5 43 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Prestolite Wire-Riverside Auto Parts Dodge 80 Running 6 11 1 Tom Hessert III/Cherry Hill NJ Maaco Auto Painting Ford 80 Running 7 8 88 Landon Cassill/Cedar Rapids IA Stanley-Vidmar-Proto Chevrolet 80 Running 8 22 72 Dawayne Bryan/Lakeland FL Hi Tech Construction Service Dodge 80 Running 9 33 47 Brad Baker/Nashville TN Envirox Ford 80 Running 10 9 40 Dario Franchitti/Edinburgh Scotland Fastenal-Ingersoll Rand Dodge 80 Running 11 19 09 John Wes Townley/Watkinsville GA Zaxby’s-SPS Ford 80 Running 12 39 24 Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL D.A.B. Constructors-Dellasolla Restaurant Chevrolet 80 Running 13 7 46 Matt Carter/Denver NC Fort Dodge Animal Health-Hantz Group-NuSouth Ford 80 Running 14 40 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Anti Monkey Butt Powder Chevrolet 79 Running 15 26 60 Patrick Sheltra/Indiantown FL Ferguson Pipe-FloraGanics Chevrolet 79 Running 16 16 39 J.R. Heffner/Stephentown NY Park East Sales-A. Colarusso & Son Chevrolet 79 Running 17 36 23 Brandon Kelley/Humble TX Porter Glass-Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Chevrolet 76 Running 18 21 4 Tayler Malsam/Sammamish WA Dodge Motorsports-Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 74 Running 19 34 22 Ken Butler III/Sherrills Ford NC Aaron’s Toyota 73 Running 20 37 90 Gabi DiCarlo/Phoenix AZ Great Clips-Lucas Oil Chevrolet 73 Running 21 42 06 Tim Mitchell/Fayetteville TN Star Wheels Skate Center Chevrolet 69 Spark Plug 22 20 37 Dexter Bean/Westby WI Glock Chevrolet 64 Running 23 35 45 Nur Ali/Fort Worth TX Tara Energy Group Dodge 60 Running 24 14 93 Pierre Bourque/Ottawa Ontario Impre Media Dodge 58 Accident 25 6 99 Ricky Stenhouse Jr./Olive Branch MS K&N Ford 54 Accident 26 1 65 Justin Marks/Rocklin CA Voodoo Ride Toyota 53 Running 27 23 54 Benny Chastain/Tallahassee FL Chastain-Schacht Motorsports Chevrolet 53 Accident 28 28 38 Danny Sammons/Hamilton NJ Shark Lounge-Daytona Lagoon Chevrolet 53 Running 29 41 26 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Magna Steyr-Koolmat Dodge 47 Running 30 13 19 Jack Bailey/Huntersville NC Eddie D’Hondt Racing Toyota 43 Accident 31 38 84 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA Shodeen Chevrolet 41 Vibration 32 27 21 Mario Gosselin/Lake Wales FL James Carter Attorney At Law Chevrolet 38 Accident 33 18 32 Dominick Casola/Holmdel NJ A. Casola Farms Dodge 34 Accident 34 10 27 Kirk Shelmerdine/Welcome NC Wabash Motorsports-Lilly Trucking Chevrolet 30 Accident 35 12 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Jones Group Dodge 30 Accident 36 24 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL Nortrax-ICI Homes Ford 30 Accident 37 5 94 Max Dumarey/North Haverhill NH Body Coach Ford 30 Accident 38 15 7 Kyle Krisiloff/Indianapolis IN Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet 29 Accident 39 2 2 Scott Speed/Manteca CA Red Bull Toyota 29 Accident 40 32 75 Brian Scott/Boise ID IWX-Strutmasters.com Chevrolet 29 Accident 41 29 12 Alli Owens/Daytona Beach FL ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevrolet 23 Accident 42 31 00 Ed Kennedy/Coppell TX Thunder 2-Daytona Lagoon Chevrolet 9 Accident 43 25 25 Ryan Fischer/Surrey British Columbia Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet 9
Accident
SIM FACTORY POLE AWARD: Justin Marks 49.632 (181.335 mph)
MRGN OF VICT: .256 seconds
CAUTIONS: 6 for 34 laps
TIME OF RACE: 1:44:21 AVG SPEED: 114.998 mph
LAP LEADERS: Speed 1-9, 17-23 (16); Marks 10-16 (7); Hessert 24-44 (21); Gerhart 45-48 (4); Annett 49-80 (32)