ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards newcomer Max Tullman (@MaxTullman) has been anxiously awaiting Saturday afternoon’s Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
The sports car veteran will make his series debut with Mason Mitchell Motorsports and believes his alignment with one of the strongest organizations on the circuit will propel him
forward and have the opportunity to contend for the win at the “World Center of Racing.”
“It’s getting harder and harder to sleep, because I’m so excited about Daytona this weekend,” said Tullman who joined Mason Mitchell Motorsports in late January.
“I had the opportunity to test at Daytona last month, but I made the choice to come and race with Mason Mitchell Motorsports because I feel they will give me a great opportunity to shine in my ARCA debut.”
Tullman, driver of the No. 78 Mason Mitchell Motorsports Chevrolet is right.
Over the past few seasons, Mason Mitchell Motorsports has emerged as a superspeedway powerhouse with fast cars and rising stars. From winning the ARCA race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April 2016 to leading laps at Daytona last February and another stout performance at Talladega last year – the team led by 2014 ARCA champion Mason Mitchell has drawn the attention of its peers as a serious contender for Saturday afternoon’s 80-lap race.
“Mason brought three cars to the Daytona test and they were all quick,” added Tullman, a native of Chester Springs, Pa. “After signing on for Daytona, we went to Talladega and tested even more and the results there have me fired up for this weekend.”
Tullman will steer chassis No. 994 out of the MMM stable. The Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 will mark the eighth race for the chassis and its fifth at Daytona. The chassis’ best result occurred at Talladega during Mitchell’s ARCA championship season in 2014 when he wheeled the car to a fourth-place effort.
The transition from sports cars to ARCA certainly is a big adjustment for the 20-year-old Tullman, but the rookie driver is relying on his team and Cup spotter Tyler Green to help make his transition as smooth as possible.
“One of the things we did at Talladega was practice a simulated race start, restarts and even pit stops. I’ve never had to make a live action pit stop, but the team did a good job coaching me through it. After a few attempts, I feel like I got it down.
“As I’ve watched some prior ARCA races, these superspeedway races tend to be a little unpredictable – so the team has done a great job preparing me for almost any circumstance. At the end of the day though, we plan to go out there and do our best to bring back the checkered flag.”
Zoomi, a new marketing partner in ARCA competition will support Tullman in his debut.
Zoomi is the first and AI-informed learning analytics company that uses machine learning to rapidly individualize training pathways in real-time. Its artificial intelligence studies learner behaviors and patterns to understand what each employee knows, what still needs to be taught and how to best deliver that information automatically.
With more than 250 proprietary algorithms, Zoomi provides deep personalized learning, predicts learning and performance, optimizes learning content and links learning to business outcomes.
Myota, a superior data security management solution will serve as an associate marketing partner for the ARCA season opener.
“I’m lucky to have a lot of support from my marketing partners, friends and family this weekend at Daytona,” added Tullman. “I’ve been fortunate to have experienced a lot of blessings in my life at such a young age. This weekend though, I’m racing at Daytona. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Veteran Motorsports crew chief Doug Richert, who led Dale Earnhardt Sr. to his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) championship in 1980 will call the shots for Tullman in the 80-lap event.
“Without the support of Zoomi, Myota, Doug and the Mason Mitchell Motorsports team, Daytona would not be possible,” sounded Tullman.
“Hopefully, we can bring some good exposure to Zoomi and Myota and it will help us in our plan to race a lot more this season.”
Tullman will be teammate to Quin Houff who returns to MMM for the second-consecutive season at Daytona in the No. 98 Chevrolet.
The Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 driven by General Tire (80 laps / 200 miles) is the first of 20 races on the 2018 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Thurs., Feb. 8 with a two-hour session from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. A final practice session has been etched in on Fri., Feb. 9 from 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Group qualifying is set for later in the day at 3:30 p.m. The season-opener for the 66th consecutive ARCA season is set to take the green flag on Sat., Feb. 10 shortly after 4:30 p.m. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), while ARCARacing.com will stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities.
Like Max Tullman on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @MaxTullman.
Follow MMM on Social Media: To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and race updates, follow MMM twitter page @MMM_Race and “Like” their Facebook page at Mason Mitchell Motorsports.
MMM PR
