The ARCA Racing Series invaded the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway for the Lucas Oil 200 presented by General Tire. The race served as the season opener for the racing series in 2016 and will serve as ARCA’s 64th season of competitive racing. Two different drivers dominated the 80-lap race with one of those scoring the win.
John Wes Townley will leave the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway with his second career Lucas Oil 200 victory. Townley shuffled the lead all afternoon with Cole Custer in his No. 05 Zaxby’s Chevrolet. The Georgia native led the final 30 laps of the race after passing Will Kimmel on the final restart on lap 48.
“We had it planned out from the beginning and very rarely at these racetracks does it ever work out as planned,” said one happy John Wes Townley after the race. He later commented on drivers not using the outside line in the closing laps. “I was a little worried to begin with that when I pull down there that they were going to search for it but it ended up working out for us. And from there we played that to our advantage for the rest of the night”
William Byron found himself in the runner-up position when the checkered flag waved after 80-laps of racing. Byron, making his third career ARCA start, came into the day looking to learn as he will run next Friday’s Nextra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona. The second-place finish ties his best career finish in the series at Lucas Oil Raceway Park last season. Byron finished 0.209 seconds behind the race winner.
Kyle Weatherman had some work to do behind the wheel of his No. 58 machine after starting the race in 32nd. Weatherman will leave Daytona with his 16th career top five and 24th top 10 finish in the series. The Missouri native entered the weekend looking to capture his second career ARCA Racing Series win.
Pole sitter Cole Custer took his No. 54 Haas Automation Chevrolet to a 10th-place finish after leading nearly the first half of the race. Custer would then have to pit for fuel after the caution on lap 44 involving the No. 25 of Tom Hessert. He would then restart in 13th and would only gain three more spots in the final 32 laps.
POS |
DRIVER |
1 |
John Wes Townley |
2 |
William Byron |
3 |
Kyle Weatherman |
4 |
Chase Briscoe |
5 |
Frank Kimmel |
6 |
Bo LeMastus |
7 |
Kevin Thomas Jr. |
8 |
Willie Mullins |
9 |
Gray Gaulding |
10 |
Cole Custer |
The start of the Lucas Oil 200 became very hairy after the field came around the tri-oval for the first time of the day. A 10-car wreck started that took out six-time Lucas Oil 200 winner Bobby Gerhart. The wreck also included Terry Jones, Jairo Avila, Shane Lee, Austin Wayne Self, Gus Dean, Cole Powell and Mark Thompson. Another multi-car wreck occurred about 18 laps later that involved Matt Kurzejewski, Mark Thompson, Dylan Lupton and Derrick Lancaster.
The ARCA Racing Series will take a two-month hiatus. Their next race will take place at Nashville Fairgrounds on April 9. Fans can follow live coverage of the event on ARCARacing.com as no television coverage will be available.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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