With 50 entries for the season-opening Daytona ARCA 200, the biggest question surrounding the ARCA Menards Series in the coming days will be “how will the field be set at Daytona?”
Assuming the week’s on track activities all go off as planned without interference from Mother Nature, the field will be set by times set in General Tire Pole Qualifying.
But qualifying at Daytona is a little different than any other race on the calendar.
At Daytona, qualifying is done in groups. Each group is made up of as many as nine race cars and will be determined by a random draw following practice on Thursday. Each group will have four minutes on the clock when released from pit road, and each driver’s fastest lap will be their speed of record.
The fastest 34 drivers in qualifying will be locked in, while the final six positions will be reserved for provisional starts.
Three of those provisional starting positions will be reserved for the highest team owners in the final 2023 ARCA Menards Series owner point standings not already in the field. Two additional provisional positions will be reserved for Golden A teams which participated in each of the series’ 20 races in 2023, and the final provisional position is set for a former driver or owner champion not already locked into the field per the Rulebook. If the Golden A and/or past champion provisionals go unused, they would revert back to final 2023 owner points.
Should qualifying be cancelled due to inclement weather, the field would be set via practice speeds. If practice were to also be scrubbed by weather, the entire field would be set via 2023 owner points.
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