As the series’ slogan “We Build Champions” suggests, graduates of the ARCA Menards Series platform dominated NASCAR national series races at Daytona International Speedway, winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fresh from Florida 250, the NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 300, and the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500.
Nick Sanchez started the weekend off with his first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win on Friday, out-dueling his former Rev Racing teammate Rajah Caruth, nine-time ARCA Menards Series winner Corey Heim, and 2020 champion Bret Holmes to earn his first career Trucks win. It was also the first series victory for team owner Max Siegel and the Rev Racing organization.
Sanchez won four times in the ARCA Menards Series including three on the way to the 2022 series championship.
Driving for Richard Childress Racing, Austin Hill won for the season-opening race for third consecutive time in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at Daytona with his victory on Sunday night. It is the seventh career Xfinity Series win for Hill, who has five career wins in the ARCA Menards Series East and finished third in the 2015 standings.
Hill held off a furious late-race charge by 2018 ARCA Menards Series champion Sheldon Creed, who finished second in his first race for Joe Gibbs Racing.
The driver who won the 2015 ARCA Menards Series East championship, William Byron, scored the victory earlier in the day in the Daytona 500. The victory was Byron’s first at Daytona and the eleventh in his Cup Series career. Byron finished just ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, himself a seven-time Cup winner and the 2012 ARCA Menards Series rookie of the year driving for team owners Kerry Scherer and Briggs Cunningham.
The rest of the top five at Daytona was also made up of ARCA Menards Series platform graduates. Three-time series winner Christopher Bell was third, followed by three-time ARCA Menards Series and six-time ARCA Menards East winner Corey LaJoie, with six-time East winner Bubba Wallace finishing in fifth.
Gus Dean kicked off the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season by winning the 61st Annual Daytona ARCA 200. The race, originally scheduled for Saturday, was moved to Friday night due to expected incoming inclement weather.
The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is the General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, set for Friday, March 8. The race will be a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series West and will be the West season opener. It will be televised live on FS1 starting at 8 pm ET and broadcast on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide. ARCARacing.com will have live Timing & Scoring data from all on-track activities, and @ARCA_Racing on X (formerly Twitter) will have up-to-the-minute updates.
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