Rette Jones Racing development driver Grant Quinlan heads to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway this week for Saturday afternoon’s Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 driven by General Tire looking for a big finish in his ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
Of course, Quinlan admits that his Rette Jones Racing team can’t fly under the radar this weekend after the team’s exceptional performance last February that left team co-owner Terry Jones with a career-best second place finish.
While Jones is taking the weekend off, he has given the steering wheel to a fellow Canadian driver hoping that he can pick up right where he left off and deliver RJR their first career ARCA victory.
“I’m feeling the jitterbugs, but I’m sure they’ll be gone by the time I climb in the car for practice on Thursday afternoon,” said Quinlan, a native of Maidstone, Ontario Canada.
“Daytona can be intimidating for anyone, especially a rookie like me, but thankfully I have a good team that is surrounded by veterans who have a lot of experience and should help make my ARCA debut a smooth one.”
Led by former championship crew chief Mark Rette, RJR participated in the sanctioning body’s open test session at the 2.5-mile speedway last month. While the team made steady gains during the two-day session, the 19-year-old says what his team did back at the shop since then should make them even better for Saturday afternoon’s 80-lap shootout.
“We were somewhat satisfied with our results at the test,” added Quinlan who hopes to run more ARCA races with Rette Jones Racing following Daytona. “Mark and the team kept making adjustments and with every change, we kept getting better.
“When it comes to a championship crew chief like Mark (Rette), he’s never going to be satisfied unless he’s at the top of the board. We made some good gains in the draft and when push comes to shove that’s where the speed will be most important.
“We’ll see how the cards fall and hope we can find our No. 30 Rette Jones Racing / International Tool & Mold Ford Fusion in contention when it counts the most.” Quinlan has made six NASCAR K&N Pro Series East starts with RJR, including his most recent race at New Jersey Motorsports Park this past September where the Canadian delivered a solid eighth place finish. He is also a veteran of the ARCA / CRA Late Model Series.
Saturday, however, will be the biggest race of his career, thus far.
“We haven’t really set a goal for the race, yet,” added Quinlan. “A lot can happen man. One minute you could be at the front, the next you’re in the back and so on. A lot of Daytona seems to come down to luck and patience.
“I hope to have both. I know that my spotter is going to mean everything this weekend and I plan to spend a lot of time with him.”
Quinlan’s run in the Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 is the start of a busy weekend for the Mooresville, N.C.-based team. In addition to the ARCA race, RJR will also be competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season-opener the following night at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway with driver Tyler Dippel.
Dippel also turned laps during the open-test at Daytona in January in hopes of making his superspeedway debut in February 2019.
For Rette, another good weekend at Daytona could make all the difference in the world on how the team’s participation in the ARCA Racing Series shapes up for 2018.
“It’s great to have Grant back in one of our cars,” said Rette. “He did a really good job at the test and we’ve been thrashing on this Ford getting ready for battle this weekend.
“I think people are going to be really surprised by Grant’s demeanor and focus for Daytona. He wants to go out there and earn the respect of his peers and hopefully find himself with a shot for a good finish this weekend. We know that the stars really aligned last year to put us in a good position to win the race.
“It can happen again with Grant and even Tyler on Sunday in the K&N East race too. We’re just happy to be racing!”
While Rette will be busy with the team’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East program, Logan Yiengst who normally serves as the car chief on the K&N side will call the shots for Quinlan for his superspeedway debut.
Additionally, the team welcomes Huntilar Corp., a Pennsylvania-based construction company specializing in custom home building, townhouse developments and excavation who joins RJR as a new major associate marketing partner for the 2018 season.
“Logan is going to do a great job on Saturday,” added Rette. “He has all the experience he needs to showcase his potential as a crew chief in ARCA. And the addition of Huntilar just shows the growth of Rette Jones Racing and that’s very exciting.”
The Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 driven by General Tire (80 laps / 200 miles) is the first of 20 races on the 2018 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Thurs., Feb. 8 with a two-hour session from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. A final practice session has been etched in on Fri., Feb. 9 from 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Group qualifying is set for later in the day at 3:30 p.m. The season-opener for the 66th consecutive ARCA season is set to take the green flag on Sat., Feb. 10 shortly after 4:30 p.m. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), while ARCARacing.com will stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities.
The latest on Rette Jones Racing is available at the team’s Facebook page, while also active on Twitter @RetteJones30.
Quinlan also tweets. Follow him @GQuinlan28.
RJR PR
