The ARCA Racing Series held qualifying on Friday afternoon for Saturday’s Lucas Oil 200 presented by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway. ARCA sorted the cars into nine groups based on their fastest times in two practice sessions over the weekend and had four minutes on the track.
Cole Custer will start the Lucas Oil 200 on the pole in his No. 54 Haas Automation Chevrolet for owner Ken Schrader. Custer will make his fourth ARCA Racing Series start on Saturday and looks to claim his second ARCA victory. He holds two top five and two top 10 finishes with JR Motorsports last season. Custer posted a lap of 47.769 seconds, 188.407 mph. and earned the pole by 0.068 seconds.
William Byron will start the Lucas Oil 200 in the second starting spot behind the wheel of his No. 55 Liberty University Toyota. Byron enters the season opener making his third career ARCA Racing Series start with owner Billy Venturini. The young driver finished second in his debut at Lucas Oil Raceway Park and started on the pole at Kentucky Speedway.
Rounding out the top three will be Chase Briscoe in the No. 77 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge. The Indiana native has two previous starts in the series last season at Lucas Oil Raceway Park and Salem Speedway where he scored top 10 finishes. Briscoe comes into the brand-new season as a SCOTT Rookie of the Year contender.
Eight-time Lucas Oil 200 winner Bobby Gerhart will start 14th on Saturday in his family-owned No. 5 Lucas Oil Chevrolet. Gerhart last won the event at the 2.5-mile oval in 2012 by passing Brandon McReynolds on the final lap.
Frank Kimmel enters what could be his final season in the ARCA Racing Series and is seeking his 11th championship in the series. The veteran racer will have some work to do after positing the 25th fastest lap in the qualifying session.
Ray Ciccarelli, Eric Caudell, J.J. Pack, Russ Dugger, Joey Gattina and Bobby Hamilton Jr. did not qualify for the event as 46 appeared on the entry list.
The Lucas Oil 200 will go green at 4:15 p.m. ET. on Saturday. Fans can watch live coverage on FOX Sports 1 and ARCARacing.com with timing and scoring. WNDB 1150 will have radio coverage of the event.
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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