News and Notes from the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona

The 2019 Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire was Venturini Motorsports’ third ARCA Menards Series win at Daytona in the last seven races there. John Wes Townley scored his first series win in 2013 driving for VMS, and Michael Self won the season opener in 2018. Harrison Burton became the youngest ARCA winner at Daytona, unseating Kyle Petty, to give VMS its third organizational win at the World Center of Racing.

Venturini Motorsports dominated ARCA Menards Series activity at Daytona in 2019, sweeping the top four spots on the leaderboard in January testing with Leilani Munter, Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes, and Michael Self, earning the General Tire Pole in qualifying with Eckes, and leading a combined 57 of the race’s 86 laps between race winner Burton and fourth-place finisher Eckes.

Kyle Petty won at Daytona in 1979 to become the youngest ARCA winner at Daytona at the age of 18 years, 8 months, 10 days. Burton’s win came at 18 years, 4 months, 1 day of age.

Petty’s nephew, Thad Moffitt, also rewrote some Petty family history at Daytona. When Petty won in 1979, he started on the front row in second position. At the time, he was the youngest front row starter in the race’s history. Moffitt started second in 2019, just two days shy of 40 years to the day, at the age of 18 years, 4 months, 29 days to become the youngest member of the Petty family to start from the front row at Daytona.

The youngest driver to ever fire off from the front row at Daytona? Cole Custer, who did it in 2016 at the age of 18 years, 22 days. The second youngest? Coincidentally, it was the driver who started alongside Custer that day, William Byron, who was 18 years, 2 months, 16 days.

Michael Annett won the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona, nipping Justin Allgaier at the finish. When Annett won the Daytona ARCA race in 2008, the driver he beat to the finish that day? Justin Allgaier. Both are now teammates at JR Motorsports. Annett’s crew chief, Travis Mack, got his start working at Louisville Motor Speedway before working alongside Frank and Bill Kimmel at Clement Racing. He worked in ARCA for four years before moving south, eventually working as car chief for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports before making the move to crew chief at JR Motorsports.

Grant Quinlan earned his best career ARCA Menards Series finish in third, while Sean Corr in fifth and Codie Rohrbaugh in seventh matched previous career best finishes.

There were at least nine former ARCA champions in the ARCA garage at Daytona: 1999 champ Bill Baird, 2010 champion Patrick Sheltra, three-time champions Dave Dayton and Ron Hutcherson, 1989 titlist Bob Keselowski, ten-time champion Frank Kimmel, two-time champ Bill Venturini, 1995 champion Andy Hillenburg, and 1982 champion Scott Stovall.

Other guests in the ARCA garage included former RPM Promoters of the Year Bob Sargent, Steve Beitler, and Gregg McKarns, Glenn Luckett and R.J. Scott of the Champion Racing Association, Auto City Speedway promoter Joe DeWitte, Anderson Speedway promoter Rick Dawson, former ARCA drivers Joe Ruttman, Jerry Makara, Dick Mitchell, Roger Blackstock, Craig Jackson, Blackie Wangerin, Larry Moore, Gary Balough, and Dave Jensen; former ARCA officials Jim and Carol Clarke, Benny Parsons’ championship-winning crew chief Ralph Young, former ARCA Truck Series champions Bill and Leslie Withers; Allen Moyer, son of 1981 ARCA champion Larry Moyer, former Cup driver Frank Warren, legendary crew chief and engine builder Waddell Wilson, longtime team sponsor Tim Delrose, David Lewis of Roush Yates Engines, and midwest modified ace Dale Roper, brother of ten-time ARCA winner Dean Roper.