PIT BOX: Daytona ushers in ARCA Menards Series’ 70th season of racing

Another year, another ARCA Menards Series season beginning at the World Center of Racing.

One of the series’ finest traditions is its annual opener at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, which in 2022 once again takes place the day before the Daytona 500. The Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. ET as part of a doubleheader with the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Saturday’s race marks the start of the 70th season in the ARCA Menards Series’ rich history, and there is no better facility to host such a special opener.

Tickets to Saturday’s Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona — which also allow access to the Xfinity Series race — are available. The race will broadcast live on FS1 with a live stream available on the Fox Sports App. A radio broadcast also will be available on MRN and SiriusXM.

Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

The entry list for Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series season-opener at Daytona is loaded. It of course leads with the handful of drivers who have announced intentions to run the complete, 20-race schedule in 2022.

Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth, both products of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Development Program, will begin their full-season effort as teammates at Daytona. Sanchez finished third in ARCA Menards Series points in 2021 running 18 of 20 races. Caruth ran full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East for Rev Racing, placing third in points.

Sanchez, a 20-year-old from Miami, Florida, will drive the No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet at Daytona. Caruth, a 19-year-old from Washington D.C., will race the No. 6 Rev Racing Chevrolet in his rookie season in the series.

Caruth recently was awarded the 2021 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award, which honors a young minority or female driver in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series who is breaking barriers and paving a unique way up the sport’s ladder.

Another driver beginning her first full-time season in the ARCA Menards Series at Daytona is Amber Balcaen, a 29-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Rette Jones Racing announced last month that Balcaen would race the full ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2022. She’ll drive the No. 30 ICON Direct Ford at Daytona.

Balcaen is a third-generation race car driver who made history in 2016, when she became the first Canadian female to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States. She will expand her ARCA Menards Series footprint after competing in a limited ARCA Menards Series West schedule last season upon her participation in Bill McAnally Racing’s Drivers Academy.

MORE DAYTONA: Schedule | Tickets | Entry List

“Racing in NASCAR’s national ARCA Menards Series has always been my dream,” Balcaen said. “To compete at historic tracks like Daytona and Talladega is something I have visualized for years. I have dedicated the last eight years, working hard to make this dream become reality, and I cannot be more excited to live it.”

Per usual, ARCA Menards Series powerhouse team Venturini Motorsports will be represented well in the ARCA Menards Series season-opener. Parker Chase, Corey Heim and Toni Breidinger will run VMS cars at Daytona.

Venturini Motorsports last month announced Breidinger, a 22-year-old from Hillsborough, California, would run full-time in the ARCA Menards Series in 2022 driving the No. 25 Toyota. Breidinger is the first female Arab-Amarican driver to have competed in a NASCAR touring series.

Heim, who finished second to Ty Gibbs in last season’s ARCA Menards Series championship points driving for Venturini, will make one of his six scheduled AMS starts for the team Saturday at Daytona. He and two-time defending ARCA Menards Series West champion Jesse Love will split time in VMS’ No. 20 Toyota this year.

Heim is the defending winner of the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire.

Chase will race for VMS at Daytona as part of a 10-race deal for this season in the ARCA Menards Series. The 2018 Pirelli World Challenge Champion will continue his stock car development after a successful debut with VMS last year.

Another driver scheduled to run the full ARCA Menards Series season in 2022 starting at Daytona is Daniel Dye, who picked up his first series win last season at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. GMS Racing announced the plans before last season ended.

“I couldn’t be more excited to return to GMS Racing and compete for a championship next year,” Dye said at the time. “Everyone at GMS does such a great job putting fast race cars on the track, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to drive one of their Chevrolets.”

As for Gibbs, he has vacated his seat in the No. 18 Toyota and has moved on to the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Two drivers will split time in that No. 18, now owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports, in 2022.

Drew Dollar will run KBM’s No. 18 Lynx Capitol Toyota at Daytona. Dollar figures to be a factor Saturday in his new equipment, as his lone ARCA Menards Series win came at a superspeedway (Talladega in 2020). He also finished second to Heim last season at Daytona driving for Venturini Motorsports.

KBM announced earlier this month that defending ARCA Menards Series East champion Sammy Smith will run the majority of ARCA Menards Series races in the No. 18 this season. However, age restrictions will prevent the 17-year-old from running at Daytona.

The complete entry list for Saturday’s Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire can be found here.

RACING REFERENCE:

• Previous ARCA races at Daytona
• ARCA drivers at Daytona

RACE FACTS

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire is limited to 34 plus provisional positions. This event will be run under the 2022 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: In timed sessions by group. Groups determined by random draw.

RACE PIT STOP: Modified live pit stop procedure. There will be a competition caution at or near Lap 40

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: Per ARCA Rulebook, maximum number of tires allowed in pit box for use in race is eight (8). No adding or removing tires to or from pit box once race has started.