For the first time since the 2017 season finale at Kansas Speedway, an ARCA Menards Series event will have drivers who do not qualify for the race.
Fifty drivers are currently entered for the 2024 season opener at Daytona International Speedway. It will be the first time that an ARCA event has seen DNQs since 2017.
“It’s fantastic,” ARCA Communications Manager Charles Krall tells Frontstretch. “It’s 20% more than we had last year. It’s the result of a lot of hard work on behalf of our competition team.
“It’s going to be an intense couple of days. We have to do our job to make sure everybody gets the same opportunity to hit the racetrack for practice and get out to get their qualifying time set. It’s fantastic to have 50 cars entered.”
The ARCA Daytona race has a unique qualifying procedure, though. It uses group qualifying where each driver, as a member of a group, has a few minutes, usually four or five, to run laps to achieve their best time.
Of the 40-car field, the top 34 make the race on speed. The next three positions are set via 2023 owner’s points. Starting spots 38 and 39 are set for the next two highest entries on the Golden A plan, the highest placement on the ARCA start money program. The final spot is reserved for a past champion, or then if no past champion, the highest Golden A, likewise the highest in owner’s points.
With 50 entrants, 2023 owner’s points will make a difference. Like NASCAR, there are owner’s points transfers over the offseason.
Willie Mullins was one of the team owners who bought owner points over the offseason. The owner/driver will attempt his ninth Daytona start, and to boost his odds of making the field, he bought Cody Coughlin’s No. 72 owner points.
“Previously, you didn’t need to go to Daytona worrying about that,” Mullins says. “It’s been since 2017 that we’ve had to worry about positioning ourselves. So this year those are becoming valuable. There are a couple of teams that have moved around to make sure they’re in, we’re proud to be a part of that and this is a chess match before you even get to the track.
“This is the real deal. You have to be there and be on your game. Your car has to unload at 110%, you cannot have mechanical issues, you cannot have parts falling off this thing, you got to be ready to put down a lap.”
Steve Lewis’ No. 62 is 42nd in the provisional chart, so he must qualify on speed to make the…
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