ARCA: Michael Self Victorious at Daytona

The ARCA Racing Series kicked-off their season of racing on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in what was a thrilling finish at the end. The event went into several over-time attempts before Michael Self captured his second-career ARCA Racing Series win. Natalie Decker, who enters her first full-time season in the series, started the Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire on the pole.

Self, who had won the season finale the last time out at Kansas Speedway in October of 2017, survived the late-race chaos that included two lengthy red flags in his No. 15 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. The Utah native started the 80-lap race, which was extended to 92 laps, in the 13th starting spot.

“I got really lucky. I made it through all the wrecks. This thing is rough…it’s beat up. I made some mistakes, but we were able to overcome them,” said Self after the race. “I had a lot of help on the radio…that’s why we’re here. This is especially great for Sinclair. It’s insane how rewarding this feels. That company took a chance on me. They’re from my home state, and that’s really special.”

Along with two victories, Self now holds six top five and six top 10 finishes in the ARCA Racing Series through 10 starts.

Willie Mullins later finished the night in the runner-up spot after starting in ninth. Mullins, driving the No. 3 Crow Wing Recycling Ford, avoided the multi-car accidents to keep the No. 3 car clean. Making his 12th career start in the series, Mullins, a 37-year old driver from Virginia, scored his second career top 10 finish.

“We had a really good plan,” said Mullins after the long event. “Drop back from our ninth starting position and drop to the back, conserve fuel and make sure we were there at the end. Then we finally ran up to the front. I’m just so thankful for this all volunteer crew. We do this out of a little garage in Virginia. I couldn’t be happier.”

His first top 10 came in the season opener at Daytona in 2016 where he left the 2.5-mile oval with an eighth-place finish.

Sheldon Creed, who spent some time leading the pack at Daytona, rounded out the top three finishers. The driver, from California, started the evening in the 14th starting spot and took home his sixth career top five finish.

“We started in the back…it worked out kind of nice tonight,” said Creed. “We saved so much fuel in the beginning. Then we got sucked up in the draft…it’s how we got to the front. We got some really good pushes from the 54 and 27. It’s all about making deals with the drivers around you. We had good people around us all night.”

Natalie Decker, scoring her first career ARCA Racing Series pole on Friday, took home a fifth place finish on Saturday. In eight ARCA starts, Decker, from Wisconsin, scored her best career finish in the series despite receiving fender damage early in the running.

Max Tullman, making his ARCA Racing Series debut at the age of 19, started fourth in the No. 78 Zoomi-Myota Chevrolet for Mason Mitchell Motorsports. The young driver survived the late-race shenanigans to capture a sixth-place finish.

Noah Gragson started 21st and left Daytona International Speedway with a seventh-place finish for David Gilliland Racing. Gragson, one of the hottest young stars in the Camping World Truck Series, from Las Vegas, NV, had work to do in the closing laps of the event. The No. 54 Switch – Safelite Auto Glass Toyota was popped for laying back on the restart and was sent to the rear of the field for the final restart. The 19-year old racer was able to regain much needed spots in one lap to grab a seventh-place finish.

Several drivers found themselves involved in accidents all throughout the event. The most notable one involved ARCA Racing Series veteran driver Bret Holmes on the backstretch. The No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet stopped on its side in a crash that involved multiple cars later in the running. He later exited the car and walked to the waiting ambulance. All other drivers involved also walked away from the incident.

The next race for the ARCA Racing Series will be at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on April 7. The event will air live on MAVTV at 8:00 p.m. ET.  ARCARacing.com will carry live radio and timing and scoring of the event.

Brett Winningham
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