Seven NASCAR Roots drivers score 2024 ‘Road to Daytona’ invites from ARCA Menards Series

TEMPERANCE, Mich. — As has been the case for more than a dozen years, select short-track champions across the NASCAR Roots platform have been invited to participate in the annual ARCA Menards Series pre-race practice as a part of the series’ Road to Daytona program.

Seven drivers — encompassing the two regional series that are a part of the ARCA Menards Series platform, the three ASA-branded touring super late model series, the ground-pounding open wheel cars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series — have received their invitations to spend practice time on the high banks at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 12-13.

The drivers will make laps in cars prepared by 1995 ARCA Menards Series champion Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track High Performance Racing Team with support from Ilmor, General Tire, Sunoco, Eibach Springs and JRI Shocks.

The seven Road to Daytona drivers for 2024 are as follows.

RELATED: What to know about the 2024 pre-race practice at Daytona

Tyler Reif

• Henderson, Nevada
• ARCA Menards Series West

Then-15-year-old Tyler Reif kicked off the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West season with an improbable victory at Phoenix Raceway, a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series.

Reif came back from a two-lap deficit to take the lead on an overtime restart, only to lose it to just as the caution came out again setting up yet another overtime restart. Reif outdueled fellow young gun Landen Lewis on the final restart to score the upset victory.

He ended the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West season second in the final standings with one win, five top-five finishes, eight top-10 finishes, and two General Tire Pole Awards.

Sean Hingorani

• Newport Beach, California
• ARCA Menards Series East

Sixteen-year-old Sean Hingorani had a storybook season in 2023, competing in all three series across the ARCA Menards Series platform. Hingorani claimed the ARCA Menards Series West championship with four wins — at California’s Irwindale Speedway, Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California, Shasta Speedway and Washington’s Evergreen Speedway — and nine top-five finishes.

Despite missing one of the series’ eight races, Hingorani finished seventh in the ARCA Menards Series East standings with five top-five finishes, including four third-place finishes at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Flat Rock Speedway, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and the Milwaukee Mile.

In nine ARCA Menards Series starts, Hingorani scored five top-five finishes (all third-place finishes) and one General Tire Pole Award.

Justin Bonsignore

• Holtsville, New York
• NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour

The three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion came up just short of another title in 2023, finishing second in the standings to now two-time champion Ron Silk by just nine points after a tense battle in the finale at Martinsville Speedway.

Bonsignore, 35, is a prolific winner in Modified Tour competition, collecting 40 checkered flags in 210 career starts.

When he’s not winning, his car is still near the front of the field, as he’s finished in the top five in more than half of his starts and finished in the top 10 154 times.

Jacob Goede

• Carver, Minnesota
• NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series

The 2019 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, Goede, 38, has won 10 consecutive Super Late Model championships at Elko Speedway.

He closed the 2023 season with five wins and 22 top-five finishes between Elko, where he won four times, and Lacrosse Speedway.

Chase Burda

• Lapeer, Michigan
• ASA CRA Super Series

Nineteen-year-old Chase Burda quickly advanced from quarter midgets to street stocks to full-size late models. The 2019 CRA Jr. Late Model champion advanced to the Jeg’s/CRA All-stars Tour in 2020, claiming the series rookie of the year award and finishing in the top five in series points. He took the series championship in 2023 with four victories, including the finale at the legendary Winchester Speedway.

Burda finished second in the ASA CRA Super Series standings, 124 markers out of the lead.

Bryan Syer-Keske

• Lakeville, Minnesota
• ASA Midwest Tour

The 28-year-old capped off his first full season racing in the ASA Midwest Tour with a runner-up finish in the series’ cornerstone event, the Oktoberfest 200 at Lacrosse Speedway.

Syer-Keske scored three top-10 finishes in 11 Midwest Tour starts, but the hallmark of his season was consistency. He never finished lower than 14th throughout the season, pushing him to the 2023 Midwest Tour rookie of the year award.

Michael Hinde

• Hernando, Florida
• ASA Southern Super Series

Hinde grabbed headlines in 2022, winning the Pro Late Model feature at SpeedFest, and again at the World Series of Asphalt Racing at New Smyrna with a pair of Pro Late Model wins. He backed it up with a win in the Red Eye 50 at New Smyrna in January of 2023 before making a splash in the Super Late Model.

He competed for the ASA Southern Super Series championship, finishing fourth in the series standings with one top-five and four top-10 finishes in nine starts.

Notable Road to Daytona participants over the years include four-time ASA Midwest Tour champion and current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship contender Ty Majeski (2014), ARCA Menards Series race winner and current mechanic for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 Chevrolet Travis Braden (2013), NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie of the year candidate Layne Riggs (2022) and defending Daytona ARCA 200 winner Greg Van Alst (2020).

A total of 63 drivers spread across 35 cars are currently entered for the two days of practice at Daytona on Jan. 12-13.

The 2024 ARCA Menards Series season kicks off at Daytona with practice on Thursday, Feb. 15, General Tire Pole Qualifying on Friday, Feb. 16 and the 61st annual Daytona ARCA 200 set for 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 17. The race will be televised live on FS1 and broadcast nationwide on select affiliates of the MRN Radio Network.