by Dave Westerman
Qualifying was completed for Saturdays ARCA 200 before rain moved in to put a halt to all activity at Daytona International Speedway on Friday afternoon. Five drivers from Florida qualified for the race and all five will start in the top twenty.
Young Joey Coulter of Miami Springs set the third quick time of the day behind Plano, TX driver James Buescher and Mikey Kile of West Lake, LA. Stuart’s Bryan Silas, already a veteran of the ARCA Series had his best-ever Daytona qualifying effort in fifth.
Indiantown’s Patrick Sheltra turned in the eleventh quick time while Ricky Carmichael of Tallahassee was 14th fastest. Alli Owens of Daytona Beach will start her Venturini Racing ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevrolet from 19th starting spot.
The field has very many interesting aspects combining both young and veteran drivers and will feature six female drivers in the starting grid of 43 cars. Much of the pre-race hype has surrounded Danica Patrick and her GoDaddy.com team. Patrick was the fastest qualifier among the lady pilots and will start 12th. Again, Owens will line up 19th, Leilani Munter 25th, Jill George 38th, Milka Duno 41st and Jennifer Jo Cobb 42nd.
Sports car racing veteran Nelson Piquet timed in a very impressive seventh quick while ARCA 200 veterans Mark Thompson, Bobby Gerhart and Frank Kimmell will go from the sixth, eighth and 13th spots respectively.
THE LINE-UP:
POS NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR TIME SPEED
1 51 James Buescher/Plano TX Phoenix Construction Toyota 49.575 181.543
2 25 Mikey Kile/Westlake LA TAG Heuer Eyewear Toyota 49.653 181.258
3 16 Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet 49.770 180.832
4 22 Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle IN Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 49.782 180.788
5 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL Rockingham Speedway Ford 49.952 180.173
6 66 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air Toyota 49.956 180.159
7 6 Nelson Piquet/Brasilia Brazil ESR Toyota 49.966 180.122
8 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 50.029 179.896
9 35 John Wes Townley/Watkinsville GA Zaxby’s Toyota 50.036 179.870
10 55 Steve Arpin/Fort Frances ON Venturini Motorsports Toyota 50.043 179.845
11 60 Patrick Sheltra/Indiantown FL PowerTrac Machinery Dodge 50.059 179.788
12 7 Danica Patrick/Roscoe IL GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 50.059 179.788
13 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Ford 50.064 179.770
14 4 Ricky Carmichael/Tallahassee FL Monster Energy Toyota 50.065 179.766
15 32 Justin Marks/Rocklin CA Construct Corps Toyota 50.075 179.730
16 1 Nick Igdalsky/Long Pond PA ModSpace Ford 50.096 179.655
17 52 Bill Baird/Sturgis KY Saturn Machine Chevrolet 50.101 179.637
18 29 Jesse Smith/Wildwood MO Hormel Foods Dodge 50.174 179.376
19 15 Alli Owens/Daytona Beach FL ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevy 50.227 179.186
20 09 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL BeasleyAllen.com Ford 50.241 179.137
21 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg ON Jones Group Dodge 50.303 178.916
22 68 Steve Blackburn/Prestonsburg WV Honda of Prestonsburg Dodge 50.338 178.791
23 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 50.345 178.767
24 0 Butch Jarvis/Blountville TN Steris Corporation Dodge 50.361 178.710
25 59 Leilani Munter/Rochester MN GREENandSAVE Dodge 50.402 178.564
26 83 Sean Corr/Goshen NY Empire Racing LLC Ford 50.410 178.536
27 28 Chris Cockrum/Conyers GA Accu Tech Chevrolet 50.453 178.384
28 95 Tommy Joe Martins/Como MS Tommy Joe Martins Racing Ford 50.506 178.197
29 12 Russ Dugger/Owasso OK Accell Construction Chevrolet 50.514 178.168
30 14 Chase Mattioli/Long Pond PA Big Machine Records Ford 50.761 177.301
31 58 Chad Hackenbracht/New Phila OH Tastee Chocolate Apples Chevy 50.775 177.253
32 36 Robb Brent/Shelby Township MI Orchard Chrysler Dodge 50.780 177.235
33 81 Craig Goess/Greenville NC Greenville Toyota of NC Toyota Provisional
34 31 Tim George Jr./New York NY RCR Development Chevrolet Provisional
35 23 Frank Wilson/St. Marys WV Drug Ctrs of America Chevy Provisional
36 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Anti-Monkey Butt Powder Chevy Provisional
37 26 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI ApplianceZone.com Ford Provisional
38 48 Jill George/Cedar Falls IA Radon.com Dodge Provisional
39 06 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD TheBusPlace.com Ford Provisional
40 17 Hal Martin/Galliano LA Mark Gibson Racing Dodge Provisional
41 90 Milka Duno/Caracus Venezuela Stringer Motorsports Toyota Provisional
42 21 Jennifer Cobb/Kansas City KS Bowsher-Mooi Motorsports Chevy Provisional
43 99 Josh Richards/Shinnston WV Presta Chevrolet Provisional