Every year, the Daytona International Speedway hosts the ARCA Menards Series season opener, just like the other top divisions of NASCAR. The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is one step above grassroots racing and is right behind the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, with very few drivers jumping straight into the NASCAR Cup Series from the ARCA Series. With that being said, the cost of entry is low, making the field fierce, as various drivers look to etch their name in history by winning at Daytona.
With 40 cars making the race after qualifying was washed out, the Green Flag flew around noon time with two-time ARCA East Champion, William Sawalich on the pole and Lawless Alan on the outside. The top-four broke away, before disaster struck on lap 3. Cody Dennison’s #11 Chevrolet got loose coming out of Turn 4, slamming the outside wall and collecting a lot of cars in the process, including Thad Moffitt, Katherine Legge, Eric Caudell, Sean Corr, Dale Quarterly and Willie Mullins, ending all of their days.
The race resumed on Lap 9, with Lawless Alan taking the lead in his strong Venturini Motorsports Toyota. It wasn’t long before another wreck ensued, this time due to Amber Balcaen losing control of her #70 Gambit Technologies Toyota, once again coming out of Turn 4. The Rette Jones Racing teammates of Kyle Steckly and Garrett Mitchell (Cleetus McFarland) were collected in this accident and this abruptly ended Steckly’s day. Lap 17 saw another single-lap green flag run, prior to Balcaen once again colliding into Mitchell, this time on the Backstretch and taking out five other drivers.
By Lap 24, only 24 out of 40 cars remained in the race after being wiped out due to accidents and mechanical failures. At this point, it was still anybody’s race, and a lot of strong cars were still in contention. A full lap had not been completed when Brayton Laster’s #0 Chevrolet had an issue going int Turn 1, ending his day.
On Lap 30, the Venturini Motorsports cars restarted behind the leaders for the first time in the afternoon, after making pit stops. Scott Melton was left in control of the race, prompting the field to go three-wide down the Backstretch.
Things got antsy with cars bump drafting, as it didn’t take long for Lawless Alan, Jake Finch and Isabella Robusto to make it back to the front. Melton had a mechanical issue on Lap 40, ending his day and collecting Helio Castroneves while spinning out. Castroneves was following NASCAR’s protocol of running a lower series race before competing in Sunday’s Daytona 500 and luckily, he was able to continue on in the race, gaining valuable experience on the high banks.
The race resumed on Lap 39, with Rev Racing’s Lavar Scott and Sawalich paying their dues to win the race bytaking charge and leading. Not long after, the Venturini cars of Alan, Robusto and Spire Motorsports’ Corey Day were collected in an accident on the Backstretch, triggered by Jeff Scofield, after giving a bad push to Robusto, wiping them out in the process.
The longest green flag run of the day took place on Lap 50, with 19 cars left, with Sawalich once again controlling the lead. On Lap 64, both Tim Richmond and Jake Finch lost control of their vehicles at the treacherous Turn 4 exit, prompting another caution. Both Finch and Richmond’s races were over, as the calamity continued.
The race resumed with Sawalich leading, prior to Scott taking the lead. In the closing laps of the season-opener, Brendan “Butterbean” Queen took the lead for the final ten laps, cruising to victory ultimately. He did not go down with a fight, however, as his teammate, Helio Castroneves, as well as Sawalich, Jason Kitzmiller and Scott all tried to make moves down the backstretch, but it was not enough for Queen, as he picked up his first career ARCA Menards Series win in only his second start in the series.
In a race full of chaos and calamity, it’s safe to say that these drivers were happy the madness was over and they could all catch their breath. Surely, this is a day Brendan Queen will never forget, celebrating at Waffle House after the victory that evening. The next ARCA Series race will be much calmer, as they head west in a few weeks at the Phoenix Raceway in Arizona, and you can catch the action on Friday, March 7 on FS1 at 8 PM EST.
Every Man on Every Crew, LLC. 
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