Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric celebrates his ARCA Menards Series win at Kansas Speedway in 2016. (ARCA Racing)

Daytona 500 results feature ARCA Menards Series winners at the top

www.arcaracing.com February 22, 2022

Daytona 500 weekend was a successful one for drivers who have competed on the ARCA Menards Series platform.

That includes first-time 500 winner Austin Cindric as well as the drivers who won Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at the World Center of Racing.

Cindric, a rookie in the Cup Series this season driving for Team Penske, scored the Daytona 500 win in just his second start in the Great American Race. Cindric has one ARCA Menards Series win (2016 at Kansas Speedway) in eight series starts from 2015-17. Cindric also has two wins in two road-course starts (both in 2016) racing in what’s now the ARCA Menards Series East, at Virginia International Raceway and at Watkins Glen International.

Including Cindric, the top four finishers in the 2022 Daytona 500 arrived with ARCA Menards Series ties.

Second-place Daytona 500 finisher Bubba Wallace finished 35th in his lone ARCA Menards Series start, for Venturini Motorsports at Daytona in 2013, but he has six wins in 37 East Series starts dating back to 2010.

Third-place Daytona 500 finisher Chase Briscoe is the 2016 ARCA Menards Series champion. He has six ARCA Menards Series wins (all that season) in 23 starts dating back to 2015. Briscoe also has one win (last year at Sonoma Raceway) in four West Series starts.

Fourth-place Daytona 500 finisher Ryan Blaney has four top-five finishes in five ARCA Menards Series starts dating back to 2011. He also has one win in two West Series starts (Phoenix Raceway in 2011) and a pair of top-five finishes in seven East Series starts.

Austin Hill, who won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series opener at Daytona in his first full-time series start, has a pair of top-five finishes in five ARCA Menards Series starts dating back to 2015. He also has five wins in 39 East Series starts dating back to 2012.

The winner of Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona, Zane Smith has four wins in 38 ARCA Menards Series starts dating back to 2016. He was the 2018 series runner-up in championship points.

Smith also has five West Series starts and a pair of East Series starts on his resume.