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The Lucas Oil
Slick Mist 200, the ARCA Racing Series 2012 season opener at
Daytona International Raceway, will be full of young racing
talent with West Coast connections. Among the most notable
entries are 2011 TOYOTA Speedway champion Brandon Davis,
former TOYOTA Speedway Super Late Model driver Ryan Reed, and
2008 All American Speedway champion Paulie Harraka.
Harraka, a
Duke University honor student, will drive a #55 for Venturini
Motorsports. The entry will make Harraka eligible for the
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race the following weekend.
Harraka is slated to run full-time in the NCWTS for newly
former Wauters Motorsports.
"I'm excited
to be competing in the ARCA race at Daytona with Venturini
Motorsports," Harraka said. "Daytona international Speedway is
certainly the hallowed grounds of motorsports, and I've looked
at the high banks there in awe for years. To have the
opportunity to compete for the first time on those high banks,
and to be doing it with this team, is extremely exciting for
me."
Harraka is
also the first
NASCAR Drive
for Diversity driver to graduate into a top-three NASCAR
series, on the strength of three NASCAR K&N Pro Series, West
wins. He will be just one part of Venturini's five-team
effort at Daytona, with Bakersfield’s Ryan Reed slated to
drive a #15 car for Venturini Motorsports as well.
Reed’s 2012
plans will include the first eight races in the ARCA Racing
Series, with goals to compete in the entire series. Reed may
also run some SRL events with JRC Motorsports and make
appearances in the PASS South and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series,
East.
26 year-old
Brandon Davis of
Huntington Beach,
Calif.
will drive a #2 car for Modspace and Andy Belmont Racing at
Daytona, also with aspirations of running the entire ARCA
series. Davis was a champion in the World Challenge GT Series
before going stock car racing, and he won 11 times at
Irwindale in 2011 to win the track championship.
"I'm
extremely grateful to ModSpace and Andy Belmont Racing for the
opportunity to drive at Daytona," said Davis, who will drive
the No. 2 ModSpace Ford Fusion to open ARCA's 60th season.
"It's Daytona, so automatically you want to go out there and
do well. But this is a whole new experience for me. I'm
grasping this chance to make a positive name for myself and
for everyone who's making this possible for me."
Practice for
the season-opening race starts on Thursday, February 16, while
Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell is Friday,
February 17, at 2 p.m. The race, scheduled to be televised
live by SPEED, is Saturday at 4:30 p.m. |
