 DAYTONA
BEACH, FL (February 6, 2010) -- The ARCA Series kicked off its 58th season
Saturday with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International
Speedway. When the 80-lap race was over, Bobby Gerhart had won a record sixth
time at the historic 2.5-mile oval. Gerhart now has seven career wins--all of
them on superspeedways.
Qualifying was held on Friday and led by last year's race winner James
Buescher. Buescher was the fastest qualifier among the 51 entrants with a time
of 49.575 seconds (181.543 mph). Buescher was followed on the time charts by
Mikey Kile at 49.654 seconds (181.258 mph).
On Saturday, 43 cars took the green flag in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200.
James Buescher led the race's first 29 laps before giving way to Bobby
Gerhart who started eighth.
The 51-year-old driver led the remaining 51 laps to capture his
record-setting sixth Daytona victory.
Gerhart's strategy was to make only one early pit stop (on lap 12) and
gamble on more cautions to save enough fuel to make it the 200-mile
distance.
Gerhart, whose plan worked to perfection, commented after the race, "To
be honest with you we calculated that we could run 66 laps before we would need
to refuel. Every chance I could I was doing everything possible to conserve
fuel. I probably gained six laps by coasting during cautions."
Gerhart would not only need enough fuel to cross the finish line but also
the power to stay in front of 42 other hungry drivers.
Gerhart was able to do both in his #5 Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet winning
by .230 seconds over Mark Thompson.
John Wes Townley, who races fulltime in the Nationwide Series, finished in
third place after starting ninth.
Last year's winner James Buescher came home fourth followed by Patrick
Sheltra in fifth.
IndyCar's Danica Patrick, one of six female drivers competing in Saturday's
race, finished in sixth place followed by Ricky Carmichael, Tommy Joe Martins,
Bryan Silas and Canada's Steve Arpin to round out the list of top ten
finishers.
The race was slowed six times for cautions with 36 laps being completed
under yellow flag conditions.
Many of the ARCA Series teams stayed in Florida for testing at Palm Beach
International Raceway.
The Palm Beach event is next up for the ARCA Series and is scheduled for
February 27th. It is one of two road courses on this year's 20-race
schedule.
Hoosier Racing Tire is proud to begin its 16th consecutive
season as the exclusive tire provider for the ARCA Series.
For more information about Hoosier products visit www.hoosiertire.com.
For more information about the ARCA Series visit www.arcaracing.com.
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