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 DAYTONA
BEACH, FL (February 16, 2013) -- The ARCA Racing Series ran its 50th
anniversary race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday to kick off the
2013 season.
In the end, John Wes Townley passed eight-time
and defending race winner Bobby Gerhart with just eight laps to go in the Lucas
Oil 200 presented by MAVTV American Real.
The 80-lap race had an international flavor to
it. Forty-four cars were on hand for qualifying including three drivers from
Canada, two from France and one from Venezuela hoping for one of the 40
starting spots. John Wes Townley earned
the pole for the race circling the 2.5-mile superspeedway in 49.638 seconds
(181.313 mph) using Hoosier's 12" wide radial slicks. Venezuelan driver
Milka Duno was second (49.860) followed by Bobby Gerhart (50.044) in
third. The race began with Milka
Duno jumping into the lead at the drop of the green flag. Duno led the first 11
laps before giving way to John Wes Townley for his first turn out front. Matt
Kurzejewski would lead laps 13-14, while Josh Williams would lead the next
three laps before Bobby Gerhart worked his way to the front of the
field. Gerhart looked well on
his way to capturing his ninth Daytona victory leading the next 55 laps. But
with just eight laps to go, the Lebanon, PA driver suffered fuel pump issues
causing him to slow and ruining his chances for yet another win. The
fuel pump problem caused Gerhart to slow up with John Wes Townley there to
regain the race lead. Townley led the rest
of the way winning by .173 seconds over Kyle Larson who started 11th. Ricky
Ehrgott finished in third place followed by Frank Kimmel and Sean Core as four
of the top five finishers notched career-best finishes. In
a credit to the talent level of all the competitors, the race had only three
cautions, one for a blown motor and the other two for on-track
skirmishes. Hoosier's trackside
sales and service team for the Daytona event included; Doug
Barnes, David Wroblewski, Rick Tostevin, John Reynolds, Kevin Wroblewski, Chad
Wright, Mike Haenes and Jim Bartholomew.
The ARCA Racing Series is back in
action March 9, at Mobile International Speedway as part of its 21-race
schedule. Prior to the race, ARCA
President Ron Drager and Hoosier Vice President Dennis Sherman announced a
contract extension that will have Hoosier continue as the exclusive tire for
the series through the 2015 season. Hoosier
began participating in ARCA events as a tire provider back in 1985 and has been
the Official Tire of the ARCA Racing Series since 1995. For
more information about the ARCA Racing Series please visit www.arcaracing.com.
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