(TOLEDO, Ohio – February 3, 2015) – ARCA’s group qualifying procedure, which is already in play at Talladega Superspeedway and the New Jersey Motorsports Park road course, is coming to Daytona Int’l Speedway for the Lucas Oil 200 presented by AutoZone.
Instead of one car going against the clock, cars will be placed into groups based on official speeds from practice. Each group qualifying session will be eight minutes in length. The fastest laps during group qualifying, which showcases drafting, will determine starting positions in the race.
“Group qualifying at Daytona combines the benefits of added interest and excitement and reduction of the amount of time it takes to complete the qualifying process,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “From a cost containment perspective, teams no longer need to invest extra time and materials into single car runs at Daytona and Talladega. We were pleased with the group qualifying procedure at Talladega last May and expect it will be even better at Daytona Feb. 13.”
The first 30 positions in the starting grid for the Lucas Oil 200 will be set by group qualifying times. Positions 31 through 34 will be reserved for car owners based on 2014 final point standings, with positions 35 through 39 set for Golden A eligible teams that competed in 100% of the races in 2014. The final position is reserved for a past champion and if no past champion provisional is issued, another car owner provisional will complete the 40-car starting field.
The Lucas Oil 200, live on FOX Sports 1, is scheduled to get the green flag at 4:30 p.m.
ARCA Race Winners at Daytona Since 1964 (51 events)
8 – Bobby Gerhart, 3 – Iggy Katona; 2 each – Andy Hampton, Ben Hess, Andy Hillenburg, Jimmy Horton, Jeff Purvis; 1 each – Grant Adcox, Michael Annett, Charlie Blanton, Jack Bowsher, James Buescher, Kyle Busch, Grant Enfinger, Woody Fisher, Mickey Gibbs, Ferrel Harris, Ron Hutcherson, Kenny Irwin, Ralph Jones, David Keith, Ralph Latham, Chase Montgomery, Ryan Newman, Benny Parsons, Kyle Petty, Lennie Pond, John Rezek, Tim Richmond, Joe Ruttman, Jim Sauter, Glenn Sears, Nelson Stacy, Ramo Stott, John Wes Townley, Mike Wallace, Rick Wilson.
ARCA Raceweek Schedule of Events
The 63rd season for the ARCA Racing Series will kick off at Speedweeks in Daytona with its first practice session Thursday, February 12 from 4-6:00 p.m. ET with the second and final practice session following Friday morning from 9:30-10:30. Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell, in group sessions, will take place at 3:30 p.m. Friday, February 13. The Lucas Oil 200, which serves as the preamble for NASCAR’s Sprint Unlimited, is set to get the green flag at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. ARCAracing.com will feature live timing and scoring of all on-track activities.
For ticket information, order online at DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com or call 800-PITSHOP800-PITSHOPÂ FREE.
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
@DonRadebaugh