Rajah Caruth pictured at the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on Oct. 23, 2019. (Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
Rajah Caruth pictured at the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on Oct. 23, 2019. (Brian Cleary/Getty Images)

NOTEBOOK: Young Talents Set To Make ARCA Menards Debuts At New Smyrna

www.arcaracing.com February 4, 2021

The Jeep Beach 175 at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway on Monday (7:40 p.m. ET on TrackPass) represents the 2021 ARCA Menards Series East season-opener, a race that will start a handful of championship bids for series regulars.

The event also marks the beginning of what a handful of young drivers hope will become successful careers on the ARCA Menards platform.

PIT BOX: East Title Runs Begin at New Smyrna

Four drivers age 18 and younger will make their debuts in ARCA Menards cars on the high-banked, half-mile oval located just 12 miles south of Daytona International Speedway. They include 18-year-old Rajah Caruth, 16-year-old Sammy Smith, 17-year-old Carson Kvapil and 16-year-old Colt Hensley.

Caruth is a prominent iRacer who’s running in the East Series this season as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program. He returns to Rev Racing after winning at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Easley, South Carolina, in a Late Model stock car in 2020. He also finished sixth in points at the Charlotte Summer Shootout in the Semi-Pro Division.

Caruth will drive the No. 6 UTI-NTI Chevrolet at New Smyrna for Max Siegel with Glenn Parker as his crew chief.

Smith will make his East Series debut in the car that led most laps across the entire ARCA Menards platform in 2020 — the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Smith finished third in the CARS Super Late Model Tour standings in 2020 with three top-five and six top-10 finishes.

While Ty Gibbs prepares to run the No. 18 full-time in the ARCA Menards Series in 2021, Smith will take it for a spin on a part-time basis donning an Engine Ice partnership in the East Series.

As will be the case for Gibbs this season, Mark McFarland will be atop the pit box for Smith at New Smyrna.

Kvapil, the son of 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, will make his ARCA Menards debut at New Smyrna driving Bruce Cook’s No. 41 Chevrolet Parts Chevrolet with Sean Samuels as his crew chief.

Kvapil recently completed a test session at New Smyrna on an off day from the famed Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Hensley, a late model racer, will make his East Series debut driving Pat Jett’s No. 09 AMS Roofing Toyota with Chris Cater atop the pit box.

In addition to the four newcomers, 17-year-old Joey Iest will make his first East Series start after running four ARCA Menards Series West races last season. Iest will drive the No. 54 Ford for David Gilliland Racing.

Double duties

Four drivers on the entry list for the Jeep Beach 175 at New Smyrna also appear on the entry list for the Lucas Oil 200 Presented by General Tire at Daytona, the ARCA Menards Series season-opener scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 13.

So Jack Wood, Willie Mullins, Richard Garvie and Chuck Buchanan are in for a busy week.

10 QUESTIONS: Get to know Jack Wood

Wood, who this season is driving the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet that Sam Mayer ran to consecutive East Series championships over the last two years, will make his debut in the car at New Smyrna before transitioning to the team’s superspeedway ride at Daytona.

The 20-year-old Wood spent 2019 and 2020 running partial schedules in the ARCA Menards Series West and ARCA Menards Series, respectively, for his family’s single-car operation.

Mullins, 40, will run his own No. 3 CW Metals-Crow Wing Recycling Ford at New Smyrna before jumping into his No. 3 Crawford Sprinkler-Corvetteparts.net Chevrolet at Daytona. Tony Furr will crew chief both races for Mullins.

Garvie is entering both races in a No. 11 Ford from Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Racing stable. Mike Stroufe will crew chief for Garvie at New Smyrna, and Steven Barton will be atop his pit box at Daytona.

Buchanan will run his own No. 87 Spring Drug Chevrolet at both New Smyrna and Daytona, with Jimmy Seay on the pit box for the first race and Craig Wood doing the honors for the second.

World Series of Asphalt

Per the tradition that was established in 2014, when New Smyrna Speedway was added to the East Series schedule as the opener, the Jeep Beach 175 is scheduled for Night 4 of the track’s annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.

The World Series of Asphalt, an event that began in the late 1960s after the dirt track in New Smyrna was paved, has evolved into a nine-night series of racing during Daytona Speedweeks featuring late models, tour modifieds, the ARCA Menards Series East and more.

This year’s 55th edition of the World Series begins Friday, Feb. 5, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 13. Fans can watch the action each night beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on TrackPass.

In addition to Monday night’s East Series race, four divisions of cars — Super Late Modifieds, Tour Modifieds, Pro Late Models and Florida Modifieds — are set to run for week-long points championships at New Smyrna.

The complete schedule for the 2021 World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing can be found here.

And more:

– Taylor Gray, who earned his first ARCA Menards win in the West Series race at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California, last season, will compete for the East Series title in 2021 running the full schedule for David Gilliland Racing. That quest begins at New Smyrna.

– Mason Diaz, who picked up three top 10s in the East Series last season as a rookie driving for Venturini Motorsports, also will compete for the series championship in 2021. He’ll run the No. 74 Solid Rock Carriers-Prince William Marina Toyota for Visconti Motorsports.

– Daniel Dye also will compete for a title running the full East Series schedule in 2021, beginning at New Smyrna. He’ll race the No. 43 Race To Stop Suicide Chevrolet for Ben Kennedy Racing.

– Parker Retzlaff will race at New Smyrna and in the East Series for Bruce Cook after finishing fourth in the championship points standings last season.

– Brandon Oakley is back in the East Series after a one-year hiatus. He’ll race his family-owned No. 22 Oakley Blacktop-Hotheads Burritos-Lave Toyota at New Smyrna.

– Do-it-all veteran Dick Dohney will race Andy Hillenburg’s No. 10 Fast Track Racing Toyota at New Smyrna and serve as his own crew chief.

– Max Gutierrez will make his third career East Series start driving the No. 30 Tough Built Ford for car owner/crew chief Mark Rette.