Michael Maples will run full time in both the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East for Fast Track Racing, he told Frontstretch.
Maples will drive the No. 99 and Mike Sroufe will serve as his crew chief. Sroufe spent the 2023 season atop the pit box for Jon Garrett, who will contest a part-time slate in 2024.
“I’ve been racing dirt cars the past few years,” Maples told Frontstretch about his racing background. “In Oklahoma and Texas we only primarily have dirt tracks. There’s one asphalt track in Houston. It’s a change. I lived in California in 1992. In ’93 I started racing. I raced asphalt late model cars at Madera Speedway. I lived in California then moved back to Oklahoma and I started racing asphalt in Oklahoma. Then the tracks were shutting down, my son was getting older and I decided I needed to spend time coaching a being a dad.
“1998 was my last year racing until 2019. In 2019 I bought an IMCA Southern Sport Mod and I started racing it on dirt. When I moved back to Oklahoma, I wanted to race either ASA or ARCA. I’ve always liked the ARCA series. Some people from Texas raced ARCA. I always thought it seemed like a good series to travel.”
While Maples retained his desire to run ARCA over those years, his dream didn’t seem to be a possibility until 2023. Last year he attended a few ARCA races, including at Kansas Speedway. He then met Garrett and Fast Track team owner Andy Hillenburg. Although Maples just turned 60 years old in December, Hillenburg recognized Maples’ desire to compete in ARCA. Hillenburg invited Maples to run the ARCA preseason test at Daytona International Speedway with Fast Track. After completing some laps around the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Maples decided to make it official.
In preparation for his series debut, Maples bought two racecars from someone who bought them from Sarah and Bridget Burgess. The women ran those racecars in the ARCA Menards Series West. As such, both cars are for racing at short tracks.
Maples then bought two cars from Garrett. One is a superspeedway racecar and the other is an intermediate.
Maples will fund much of his endeavor himself with Maples Motorsports on the hood. Don Ray Petroleum, Maples’ employer, also will serve as a sponsor. In addition, Maples has a few individuals who will help him contest his 23-race season.
“I’m looking forward to going to bucket list tracks,” he continued. “I’m excited about Daytona, Talladega…
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