ARCA RE/MAX Series Daytona Beach Bound

 

TOLEDO OH (1-15-05)  As it has since 1964, the ARCA RE/MAX Series will soon steer for Daytona Beach, Florida for the 42nd running of the Advance Discount Auto Parts 200 Saturday afternoon, February 12 at Daytona Int'l Speedway. The 200-mile event officially kicks off Speedweeks 2005 on the 2.5-mile Daytona tri-oval, and will also serve as the preamble to the same-night NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Bud Shootout.

 

ARCA RE/MAX Series teams will begin to converge on the beach on Tuesday, February 8, as registration and technical inspection begins for the competitors. The RE/MAX Series cars initially take to the high-banks on Thursday, Feb. 10 for the first official on-track activities of 2005 with morning and afternoon practice sessions. Pork Pole Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at noon, which will determine the 41-car starting line.

 

"It's a long week for our teams, but at Daytona, there's an awful lot to do to get ready," commented Joe Wells, Vice President of Competition for ARCA. "In addition to being the first race of the season, it's one of just two "restrictor plate" races for our series. There's a lot of attention paid to the aero-dynamics of our cars here and at Talladega through inspection, and it takes the better part of a whole day to complete the process."

 

In addition to being the first race of the season, many ARCA insiders believe it to be the biggest, and most important on the schedule each year. 

 

"Daytona, in the opinion of most ARCA followers, is absolutely the biggest race of the year for the RE/MAX Series," commented ARCA Marketing Director, Daren Havens. "Daytona draws the largest spectator crowd, and the largest television audience of any ARCA RE/MAX Series event on an annual basis."

 

SPEED Channel will bring their national cameras to Daytona for live flag-to-flag coverage. Last year's Daytona/ARCA telecast was the 5th highest-ranking show on SPEED Channel for the entire 2005 season, according to the Nielsen cable ratings. 

 

"Just like NASCAR, the ARCA RE/MAX Series event at Daytona is our Super Bowl," Havens continued. 

 

Tickets for Speedweeks 2005, the Advance Discount Auto Parts 200 and the Budweiser Shootout are available online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com and/or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.