Hard Rock Bet 200
A forecast with a 90% chance of rain and possible flooding on Saturday, NASCAR made the decision to reschedule the ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona. The race was moved from Saturday afternoon to Friday night following the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
The Hard Rock Bet 200 race ended dramatically with a white-flag restart. As a terrible crash occurred on the backstretch, Gus Dean took the lead and won the race, concluding a long Friday of racing.
After the race, Dean expressed his emotions as he dedicated the win to his recently deceased grandfather, stating, “My grandad came to every single race I ever ran and he’d tell me to get all I can. This means everything.”
Thomas Annunziata finished second, while Greg Van Alst, Christian Rose, and Tim Richmond rounded out the top five.
Winning Willie Mullins
Willie Mullins won the General Tire Pole Award for the Hard Rock Bet 200.
Additionally, he received the “Save of the Night” award. He was commended for his impressive driving on Lap 54 when he managed to keep his car straight after being knocked sideways. However, his race was cut short due to a massive crash that occurred with only 19 laps to go.
Race Rewind
A big crash on Lap 3 of the Daytona ARCA 200 took out multiple contenders, including Toni Breidinger who expressed frustration with the race winner and teammate for being too aggressive too early.
This crash also collected former NASCAR Cup Series winner Shane Van Gisbergen and Breidinger’s teammate Amber Balcaen. Kris Wright, Ed Pompa, Tanner Gray, Andy Jankowiak, Mandy Chick, and others were also collected on the Lap 3 mayhem.
The caution flag was flying again on Lap 19. This time as Chick’s car, which had a top-5 finish in 2023, suffered a tire blowout, ending her night. Five laps later, the caution flag was raised again for Christian Rose who made an excellent save, preventing his machine from hitting the wall on the front stretch.
The scheduled caution on Lap 40 caused more race car damages.
Marco Andretti slowed down under caution, only to be hit from behind and into the No. 4 of Dale Quarterley. Other cars involved in the incident included Justin Bonsignore and Leland Honeyman, Jr.Â
The next caution waved when Andretti’s car caught fire after cutting a tire from the damage he received during the lap 40 caution.
On the final restart, Dean’s teammate, Jake Finch, assumed that they would perform another teammate restart, which they had been doing throughout the race. However, Dean was able to pull ahead and away from Finch, securing the win.
Compelte Results & Looking Ahead
Click here for complete results from the Hard Rock Bet 200 at Daytona International Speedway.
The ARCA Menards Series will return on March 8 for the General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway. Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the race live.
