Marco Andretti Sets Fastest Practice Speed Ahead Of ARCA Daytona Qualifying
Marco Andretti is already out front in his first race on the Daytona International Speedway oval.
The IndyCar veteran and 2022 SRX champion is running a stock car racing schedule this year that includes 14 races in the ARCA Menards series starting with the Arca 200 at Daytona.
Andretti set the fastest speed during practice on Thursday in the Group 1001 Chevrolet with a 185.185 mph lap and said he was in “the right place at the right time” as he learned how ARCA drafting works.
Fellow first-timer Shane Van Gisbergen, who is scheduled to compete in both the ARCA 200 and Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 on Saturday, finished practice in 13th with a 181.774 mph lap in what is his first competitive outing on a superspeedway in any type of car.
Three-time Australian Supercars champion Van Gisbergen famously won his debut outing in a NASCAR Cup Series car at the Chicago Street race last year, but needs to race in the ARCA 200 to gain approval to compete on superspeedways in the top three NASCAR series.
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The practice times would set the field for the race if Friday’s qualifying was canceled for weather, but the forecast currently looks good.
There are 49 drivers vying for 40 starting positions in the race.
Qualifying is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET Friday. The format sees all of the drivers randomly assigned into groups of up to nine cars that each run for four minutes from pit road with only their fastest lap counting.
Andretti’s fast lap was 48.6 seconds.
You can see the full results from practice by clicking here.
