Venturini Motorsports, Country Joe Racing Top Speed Charts
DAYTONA BEACH FL (12-17-07) ? In preparation for the 45th annual ARCA 200 at Daytona, a record 79 drivers and 68 racecars participated in the three-day ARCA RE/MAX Series open test this past weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Daytona Int?l Speedway.
And despite the record turnout and a healthy crop of development teams on the grounds, it was, in the end, ARCA RE/MAX Series regulars? Venturini Motorsports and Country Joe Racing that topped the speed charts.
Venturini Motorsports, renowned for their restrictor plate savvy, was quickest in single car runs with Canadian rookie Ryan Fischer in the driver?s seat. Fischer circled the legendary 2.5-mile superspeedway in 49.558 seconds, an average speed of 181.605 mph.
Fischer, from the province of British Columbia, edged Roush Fenway Racing powerhouse teammates? Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Erik Darnell, who were second and third on the single car speed charts with speeds of 181.580 mph and 181.243 mph respectively. Stenhouse, from the open-wheel ranks, recently announced that he would be running the full 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule under the Roush Fenway Racing banner. Darnell won two RE/MAX Series events in 2007 at Kentucky and Michigan while participating in the full NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule.
Country Joe Racing?s James Buescher was fourth quickest overall in single car runs ahead of Mario Gosselin (DGM Racing) and five-time and defending ARCA 200 at Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart (Bobby Gerhart Racing). The event marked Gerhart?s return to the cockpit after recovering from injuries sustained in a crash at Pocono Raceway in July of 2007. Former series Rookie of the Year Chad Blount (Jones Group Racing), Dominick Casola (Country Joe Racing), Ed Kennedy (Ralph Solhem Racing) and Matt Carter completed the top-10 fastest drivers in single car runs. Carter, son of longtime NASCAR car owner Travis Carter, was aboard nine-time ARCA RE/MAX Series car owner champion Larry Clement?s no. 46 Ford Taurus, the same ride recently vacated by Frank Kimmel.
Buescher, who became the youngest winner in ARCA RE/MAX Series history at 16 with his victory at USA Int?l Speedway in March of 2007, was, however, quickest in the draft after series officials opened up the test to four and five car drafts late Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Buescher, in the no. 9 Country Joe Racing Dodge Charger, topped the speed charts in drafting with a time of 49.191, an average speed of 182.960 mph. Donny Lia (HT Motorsports), John Townley (RAB Racing), Stenhouse, Jr., Darnell, Chase Austin (Rusty Wallace Inc.), Dexter Bean (Spraker Racing Enterprises), JR Heffner (74 Operations, LLC), Tayler Malsam (Cunningham Motorsports) and Patrick Sheltra (Sheltra Motorsports) completed the top-five best speeds in the draft. Lia?s effort (182.678 mph) was the best among the Toyota teams in attendance, which included the 2007 Talladega winner Michael Annett (Bill Davis Racing) and Eddie Sharp Racing?s two car team with Formula 1 veteran Scott Speed and Ken Butler, III driving.
Nine-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank Kimmel tested a Dodge Charger for the first time under the Kimmel Racing/Cunningham Motorsports banner. Kimmel, who adorned the no. 44 ? the same number his father Bill Kimmel, Sr. used throughout his career ? was 18th fastest in the draft with a speed of 179.756 mph. In single car runs, Kimmel could do no better than 38th quickest at 177.880 mph.
Other notable drivers testing over the weekend included 2007 Indy 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, who was 23rd fastest (178.384 mph) overall in single car runs in a Ganassi Racing Dodge, and Landon Cassill, who, in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, placed 16th fastest in the draft and 45th overall in single car runs. NASCAR veteran driver/champion David Green was on hand to assist Cassill.
The 45th annual ARCA 200 at Daytona is LIVE on SPEED at 4:00 pm Saturday afternoon, February 9th, 2008.
Daytona Testing, ARCA RE/MAX Series Single Car Runs Pos. No. Name Time Speed Make 1 25 Ryan Fischer 49.558 181.605 Chevy 2 99X Ricky Stenhouse Jr 49.565 181.580 Ford 3 99 Erik Darnell 49.657 181.243 Ford 4 9 James Buescher 49.886 180.411 Dodge 5 12B Mario Gosselin 49.954 180.166 Chevy 6 5 Bobby Gerhart 50.006 179.978 Chevy 7 30A Chad Blount 50.012 179.957 Dodge 8 32 Dominick Casola 50.120 179.569 Dodge 9 00A Ed Kennedy 50.182 179.347 Chevy 10 46 Matt Carter 50.191 179.315 Ford 11 31 Alex Yontz 50.206 179.261 Chevy 12 65A John Townley 50.223 179.201 Ford 13 94 Max Dumarey 50.283 178.987 Ford 14 5K Kyle Krisiloff 50.325 178.838 Chevy 15 3 Jeremy Clements 50.339 178.788 Chevy 16 74 JR Heffner 50.348 178.756 Chevy 17 72A John Jackson 50.389 178.610 Chevy 18 75D Brandon Knupp 50.419 178.504 Chevy 19 07 Michael Faulk 50.425 178.483 Dodge 20 37A Dexter Bean 50.432 178.458 Chevy 21 30B Steve Blackburn 50.439 178.433 Dodge 22 22 Ken Butler III 50.446 178.409 Toyota 23 40B Dario Franchitti 50.453 178.384 Dodge 24 12A Alli Owens 50.460 178.359 Chevy 25 11A Bryan Silas 50.464 178.345 Ford 26 30C Jesse Smith 50.473 178.313 Dodge 27 72 Andrew Ranger 50.481 178.285 Chevy 28 90 Gabi DiCarlo 50.486 178.267 Chevy 29 20 Pierre Bourque 50.517 178.158 Dodge 30 21 Chris Cockrum 50.526 178.126 Chevy 31 75A Scott Stenzel 50.532 178.105 Chevy 32 4A Tayler Malsam 50.540 178.077 Dodge 33 00B Danny Sammons 50.545 178.059 Chevy 34 45 Nur Ali 50.546 178.056 Dodge 35 60B Patrick Sheltra 50.568 177.978 Chevy 36 65 Robby Benton 50.592 177.894 Ford 37 28 Mike Annett 50.593 177.890 Toyota 38 44 Frank Kimmel 50.596 177.880 Dodge 39 61A Chase Austin 50.617 177.806 Chevy 40 2 Scott Speed 50.671 177.616 Toyota 41 1 Tom Hessert 50.701 177.511 Ford 42 7C Brent Cross 50.707 177.490 Chevy 43 19A David Green 50.730 177.410 Toyota 44 19 Jack Bailey 50.738 177.382 Toyota 45 87A Landon Cassill 50.751 177.336 Chevy 46 0A Butch Jarvis 50.769 177.274 Chevy 47 75B Benny Chastain 50.777 177.246 Chevy 48 21A Jeremy Petty 50.788 177.207 Chevy 49 1B Chad McCumbee 50.790 177.200 Ford 50 5B Trevor Sanborn 50.836 177.040 Chevy 51 71 Larry Hollenbeck 50.869 176.925 Chevy 52 13 Michael Phelps 50.883 176.876 Chevy 53 5A Brian Smith 51.030 176.367 Chevy 54 92 Donny Lia 51.035 176.350 Toyota 55 48 James Hylton 51.086 176.174 Dodge 56 01 Wayne Reutimann 51.152 175.946 Toyota 57 75C Michael Simko 51.251 175.606 Chevy 58 6 Brett Rowe 51.452 174.920 Chevy 59 5R Kory Rabenold 51.537 174.632 Chevy 60 68 Michelle Theriault 51.591 174.449 Chevy 61 92A Phillip McGilton 51.605 174.402 Toyota 62 59 Ray Mooi Jr 51.627 174.327 Chevy 63 38 Mike Harmon 52.150 172.579 Chevy 64 24 Michel Disdier 52.737 170.658 Chevy 65 1A Jake Francis 52.957 169.949 Ford 66 14 Jordan Bland 53.184 169.224 Ford 67 89 Russ Dugger 53.402 168.533 Chevy 68 89A Drew White 53.443 168.404 Chevy
69 83 Scotty Ellis 53.787 167.327 Chevy
Daytona Testing, ARCA RE/MAX Series Drafting Speeds Pos. No. Name Time Speed Make 1 9 James Buescher 49.191 182.960 Dodge 2 92 Donny Lia 49.267 182.678 Toyota 3 65A John Townley 49.284 182.615 Ford 4 99X Ricky Stenhouse Jr 49.351 182.367 Ford 5 99 Eric Darnell 49.405 182.168 Ford 6 61B Chase Austin 49.417 182.124 Chevy 7 37A Dexter Bean 49.451 181.998 Chevy 8 74 JR Heffner 49.497 181.829 Chevy 9 4A Tayler Malsam 49.727 180.988 Dodge 10 60B Patrick Sheltra 49.729 180.981 Chevy 11 11A Bryan Silas 49.730 180.977 Ford 12 20 Pierre Bourque 49.760 180.868 Dodge 13 07 Michael Faulk 49.779 180.799 Dodge 14 99 Eric Darnell 49.849 180.545 Ford 15 12A Alli Owens 49.988 180.043 Chevy 16 87A Landon Cassill 50.025 179.910 Chevy 17 90 Gabi DiCarlo 50.043 179.845 Chevy 18 44 Frank Kimmel 50.068 179.756 Dodge 19 5K Kyle Krisiloff 50.079 179.716 Chevy 20 12B Mario Gosselin 50.093 179.666 Chevy 21 2 Scott Speed 50.109 179.608 Toyota 22 72 Andrew Ranger 50.130 179.533 Chevy 23 71 Larry Hollenbeck 50.155 179.444 Chevy 24 32 Dominick Casola 50.267 179.044 Dodge 25 46 Matt Carter 50.281 178.994 Ford 26 22 Ken Butler III 50.322 178.848 Toyota 27 00A Ed Kennedy 50.355 178.731 Chevy 28 59 Ray Mooi Jr 50.400 178.571 Chevy 29 75D Brandon Knupp 50.400 178.571 Chevy 30 28 Mike Annett 50.505 178.200 Toyota 31 45 Nur Ali 50.532 178.105 Dodge 32 13 Michael Phelps 50.565 177.989 Chevy 33 5B Trevor Sanborn 50.639 177.729 Chevy 34 48 James Hylton 50.702 177.508 Dodge 35 72A John Jackson 50.705 177.497 Chevy 36 25 Ryan Fischer 50.753 177.329 Chevy 37 0A Butch Jarvis 50.757 177.315 Chevy 38 00B Danny Sammons 50.764 177.291 Chevy 39 19 Jack Bailey 50.770 177.270 Toyota 40 75A Scott Stenzel 50.770 177.270 Chevy 41 31 Alex Yontz 50.822 177.089 Chevy 42 01 Wayne Reutimann 50.836 177.040 Toyota 43 21 Chris Cockrum 50.851 176.988 Chevy 44 92A Phillip McGilton 50.877 176.897 Toyota 45 68 Michelle Theriault 50.929 176.717 Chevy 46 75C Michael Simko 51.020 176.401 Chevy 47 5A Brian Smith 51.052 176.291 Chevy 48 7C Brent Cross 51.187 175.826 Chevy 49 5R Kory Rabenold 51.473 174.849 Chevy 50 38 Mike Harmon 51.673 174.172 Chevy 51 6 Brett Rowe 52.021 173.007 Chevy 52 89 Russ Dugger 52.840 170.326 Chevy 53 24 Michel Disdier 53.605 167.895 Chevy
54 83 Scotty Ellis 56.169 160.231 Chevy
