Ty Dillon to Start on Pole for ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona

Photo Credit: ARCA

Taking the pole at 185.533 miles per hour around Daytona International Speedway for the ARCA Racing Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, The #41 Chevrolet of Ty Dillon claims the first competitive pole on the resurfaced 2.5 mile oval circuit. Handily beating the times of Venturini Motorsports drivers Kyle Fowler and Canadian Steve Aprin, 18 year-old Ty Dillion (the grandson of NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner Richard Childress and brother of 2011 NASCAR Camping World series driver Austin Dillon) has earned his second pole out of 4 total ARCA Racing Series starts.

Matt Merrell and Bobby Gerhart 5-time reigning winner of the ARCA 200 mile race at Daytona fills out the top-5 starters for Saturday afternoon. With 43 cars completing the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 grid, 4 countries of male and female racers will be suiting up for the 2011 edition of the event. Some notable names starting this event will be NASCAR regular Ricky Carmichael in 7th place, 2011 Toyota All-Star race winner Jason Bowles in 16th, Venezuela INDYCAR driver Milka Duno in 23rd and 9-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel starting 26th. 76 years young, NASCAR Cup series winning car James Hylton will start the ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 in 35th place driving his #48 Ford. 

Assembled as the first stock car race to be run on the smooth, oval pavement, the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 for the ARCA Racing Series is likely to be closely examined by NASCAR as drafting speed, tire wear and the racing itself is less predictable than previous years. Judging qualifying for the ARCA race alone, single car speeds around the 2.5 oval Daytona International Speedway is 4 miles per hour faster than the time trial laps in 2010.

The first race kicking off the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway is set to start at 4:30 PM Saturday afternoon.


2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200
Daytona International Speedway


Pos #  | Car #  | Driver |  Origin  | Sponsor/Car Make  | Qualifying Time and Speed

1. 41 Ty Dillon/Lewisville NC UNOH Chevrolet
2. 15 Kyle Fowler/Smyrna GA Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet
3. 25 Steve Arpin/Fort Frances ON Mike's Hard Lemonade-Trent's Tire Toyota
4. 32 Matt Merrell/Portland TX Red Line Oil Toyota
5. 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet
6. 55 Hal Martin/Galliano LA NOLA Motorsports Park Toyota
7. 4 Ricky Carmichael/Tallahassee FL Monster Energy Chevrolet
8. 66 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air Toyota
9. 31 Tim George Jr./New York NY RCR Development Chevrolet
10. 52 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Federated Auto Parts Toyota
11. 28 Miguel Paludo/Nova Prata Brazil STEMCO-Duroline Toyota
12. 98 Kevin Swindell/Goodlettsville TN Curb Records-Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota
13. 16 Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL Rip It Energy Fuel-Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet
14. 22 Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle IN Ferrellgas-Syngenta Dodge
15. 19 Brian Rose/Louisville KY Harris Trucking-ASE Toyota
16. 6 Jason Bowles/Ontario CA Eddie Sharp Racing Toyota
17. 14 John Ferrier/Middletown NY CGS Imaging Ford
18. 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Jones Group Dodge
19. 17 Chris Buescher/Prosper TX Roulo Brothers Racing Ford
20. 09 Benny Gordon/DuBois PA VSI Ford
21. 94 Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY Hudson Performance Drivelines Dodge
22. 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL National Speed Sport News-Fast Track Ford
23. 63 Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela Citgo Lubricants Dodge
24. 12 Maryeve Dufault/Sorel Quebec TMR Dodge
25. 77 Joey Licata/Van Nuys CA Wrong Inc. Dodge
26. 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Ford
27. 82 Sean Corr/Goshen NY Empire Racing Ford
28. 1 Chad McCumbee/Supply NC ModSpace Ford
29. 18 Chris Lawson/Troutman NC Ideal Steel Custom Flame Cutting Dodge
30. 00 Ed Kennedy/Coppell TX Thunder 2 Lubricants-Daytona Lagoon Chevrolet
31. 36 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL BeasleyAllen.com-Excaliber Coach Dodge
32. 26 Tommy Joe Martins/Como MS Martins Motorsports Dodge
33. 23 Nick Igdalsky/Long Pond PA Fox Realty Chevrolet Provisional
34. 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN IndustrialDepot.com Ford Provisional
35. 48 James Hylton/Inman SC Radon.com Ford Provisional
36. 10 Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY Rifenburg Construction-Double H Ranch Chevrolet Provisional
37. 06 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD CanadianHeroes.com Chevrolet Provisional
38. 68 Steve Blackburn/Prestonsburg KY Honda of Prestonburg-Harley of Pikeville Dodge Provisional
39. 7 Brent Cross/Cortland NY Cummings Auto Machine-Quadraflex Chevrolet Provisional
40. 58 Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadelphia OH Tastee Apple Chevrolet Provisional
41. 75 Benny Chastain/Tallahassee FL Drive To End Hunger AARP Toyota Provisional
42. 3 Brent Brevak/Eau Claire WI Red's Auto Ford Provisional
43. 42 Scott Stenzel/Orlando FL Yellow Stripes Making The Driver Ford

Mark Martin Takes Pole for the Daytona 500; Earnhardt Jr Joins Hendrick Teammate on Front Row

Saturday's qualifying the event known as the 'Great American Race' took place against gusty winds and some teams scratching their heads after running only a few laps of practice on a rainy Friday.

With only 43 starting positions up for grabs for the 2010 running of the Daytona 500 in Sunday February 14th, 54 cars take the track for a nerve-racking 2-laps each of single race qualifying. While only the first 2 positions will be locked in following the session, every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor is under pressure to provide the fastest lap possible since their speeds play a part in the Gatorade 150 mile Duel races set for Thursday.

Sporting a bearded look in accompanying his new look #88 AMP/Energy Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Jr backed up his fastest time in Friday practice. Drawing an early spot in Daytona 500 qualifying, Earnhardt Jr grabbed the fastest time with a 190.913 miles per hour. A run which proved strong amongst the first 10 Sprint Cup cars to take time, Earnhardt Jr was a little disappointed with the #88 Chevrolet scrubbing off speed as the splitter was brushing along the race track.

The 12th car out on the track, Earnhardt Jr's teammate Mark Martin quickly stole the show with his run in the #5 Godaddy.com Chevrolet. Placing 2nd in practice time behind the #88 car on Friday, Martin reversed the results by running his Hendrick Motorsports car faster at 191.188 miles per hour.

The next Hendrick bullet launched onto the Daytona high-banks was Jimmie Johnson who posted a 5th place run with 26 cars of the 54 cars setting time.

As qualifying ran Chevrolet proved that they had a run on the competition with two Hendrick Motorsports leading the way. However, the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams running Toyota and even Dodge (3 of the 6 being campaigned by Penske Racing) contenders have proven themselves to be on equal footing in regards to speed. The one manufacturer struggling to find speed was the newly-expanded Ford Racing. Through the 2-lap single-car qualifying runs, the Ford Fusions appeared to be lacking as the cars of Richard Petty Motorsports and 3 of the 4 Roush/Fenway rides had set some ho-hum times. While the #17 Crown Royal car of Matt Kenseth, the final guaranteed race starter to qualify for the Daytona 500 in accordance to top 35 in owner points, posted an optimistic run for Roush/Fenway, the pride of Ford Racing has been the #21 Wood Brothers team. A car that must qualify without the aid of car owner points Driven by two-time Daytona 500 winner and the 1988 NASCAR Cup series champion Bill Elliott, the Motorcraft Ford bolted around the track at an astonishing lap of 190.57 miles per hour, threatening to front row at one point in the qualifying run.

While the Roush/Fenway Racing Fords didn't show a lot of speed during single car qualifying, slowness in restrictor plate racing qualifying is not out of character. With four experienced drivers who have shown muscle in restrictor plate racing, Roush/Fenway Racing is likely to shine deeper into Speedweeks as drafting becomes paramount. Also remember that Matt Kenseth won last year's Daytona 500 after starting 39th place.

At the end, the Hendrick Motorsports team celebrated a massive victory in Daytona 500 qualifying with the #5 Chevrolet of Mark Martin as well as the #88 Chevy of Dale Earnhardt Jr takes the 1st and 2nd place positions. For the drivers, these results are career best through the major qualifying event. With Earnhardt Jr's starting in his highest spot ever in 11 starts, Mark Martin takes his career first pole in Daytona 500 in 2010.

As both drivers are locked into the Daytona 500, they'll also lead Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150 races as the rest of the field will fight to claim their starting positions for the famous 500-miler around the 2.5 mile superspeedway.


Qualifying Results for 2010 Daytona 500

Top 10:

1. Mark Martin #5 Chevy
2. Dale Earnhardt #88 Chevy
3. Ryan Newman #39 Chevy
4. Bill Elliott #21 Ford
5. Juan Pablo Montoya #42 Chevy
6. Jimmie Johnson #48 Chevy
7. Kurt Busch #2 Dodge
8. Clint Bowyer #33 Chevy
9. Kyle Busch #18 Toyota
10. Jeff Gordon #24 Chevy