Newberry, driving the No. 92 Chevrolet for NTS Motorsports, posted an early afternoon lap of 37.083 seconds (194.159 mph), edging Bowman and the No. 22 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge by 0.009 second for the day's best time. Until today, Newberry had never driven an ARCA car or seen Michigan's two-mile oval. The 22-year-old from Bakersfield, Calif. has made 10 career starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series since 2010, and four in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this year. "Obviously, the track is very smooth and fast," he said. "I've never been in an ARCA car before and never saw the track until today, so it was very rewarding to run so well here. I'm really not too surprised by our lap times today. The car felt so good right off the trailer. We had to make adjustments on it, but nothing drastic. "We plan to come back and race and I think we'll be just as strong. My job will be to drive my tail off it, get everyone excited on this family-owned team, and see where it leads us. Hopefully, we'll get to run a few more." Bowman had led the three-hour morning session at 191.266 mph, creating a buzz that more drivers would surpass Gale's qualifying mark of 189.623 mph over the five-hour afternoon period. Drivers and teams delivered after the mid-day break, as five topped 193 mph and four others drove above 192 mph. In all, 15 drivers turned laps in over 190 mph and beat Gale's time - which continues to stand as the official ARCA lap record at Michigan. Bowman suffered from a flat right front tire after his fast lap and hit the Turn 4 wall, one of two incidents in that area. He did not sustain any injury in the crash, and learned something about car care in the process. "We had a tire go down; it happens," said Bowman, who has won two Menards Pole Awards in 2012. "We'll be really good when we come back. I do think we'll need to keep an eye on the right front tire wear at these speeds. It's just something I think we're going to have to look out for." Below Newberry and Bowman were the following drivers, in order from third to 15th: Joey Coulter, Brennan Poole, Ryan Reed, Chris Buescher, Jared Marks, Kyle Larson, Matt Lofton, John Blankenship, Aleks Gregory, Brandon Miller, Dylan Kwasniewski, Clay Rogers, and Kevin Swindell. Larson, 19, and Kwasniewski, 16, tested cars for Eddie Sharp Racing. Neither have raced in the ARCA Racing Series, and both currently compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Kwasniewski, of Las Vegas, leads the West point standings, and Larson, of Elk Grove, Calif., is third in the East division. The full speed charts are below. Morning 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards | | | Michigan Int'l Speedway, Brooklyn MI, 5-22-12 | | | RainEater Wiper Blades 200 | | | | | | | | | | May 22, 2012 / 12:11 PM | | | | | | | | | | POS | NO | DRIVER/HOMETOWN | TEAM & CAR | TIME | SPEED | 1 | 22 | Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ | Cunningham Motorsports Dodge | 37.644 | 191.266 | 2 | 16 | Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC | Coulter Motorsports Chevrolet | 37.714 | 190.911 | 3 | 55 | Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN | Venturni Motorsports Toyota | 37.801 | 190.471 | 4 | 61 | Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL | Coulter Motorsports Chevrolet | 37.879 | 190.079 | 5 | 33 | Dylan Kwasniewski/Las Vegas NC | ESR Chevrolet | 37.990 | 189.524 | 6 | 6 | Kyle Larson/Elk Grove CA | ESR Chevrolet | 38.101 | 188.971 | 7 | 25 | Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX | Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet | 38.236 | 188.304 | 8 | 92 | Brandon Miller/San Diego CA | NTS Motorsports Chevrolet | 38.478 | 187.120 | 9 | 25A | Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX | Venturini Motorsports Toyota | 38.682 | 186.133 | 10 | 92A | Brandon Miller/San Diego CA | NTS Motorsports Chevrolet | 38.885 | 185.161 | 11 | 66 | John Blankenship/Knoxville TN | Venturini Motorsports Toyota | 39.007 | 184.582 | 12 | 82 | Sean Corr/Goshen NY | Empire Racing Ford | 39.401 | 182.736 | 13 | 15 | Ryan Reed/Bakersfield CA | Venturini Motorsports Ford | 39.599 | 181.823 | 14 | 12 | Jared Marks/Napoleon OH | TMR Dodge | 39.622 | 181.717 | 15 | 35 | Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela | Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet | 39.878 | 180.551 | 16 | 7 | Kent Schenkel/Huntington IN | Shenkel Racing Dodge | 40.074 | 179.668 | 17 | 82A | Sean Corr/Goshen NY | Empire Racing Ford | 40.458 | 177.962 | 18 | 45 | Clay Rogers/Troutman NC | Chevrolet | 41.228 | 174.639 | 19 | 88 | Buster Graham/Lafayette LA | Team BCR Ford | 41.691 | 172.699 | 20 | 28 | Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI | Buckley Racing Chevrolet | 42.691 | 168.654 | 21 | 18A | Chris Brown/Mt. Washington KY | Dodge | 44.866 | 160.478 | 22 | 09 | Charles Evans Jr./Pasadena TX | Team BCR Ford | 45.397 | 158.601 |
Afternoon 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards | Michigan Int'l Speedway, Brooklyn MI, 5-22-12 | RainEater Wiper Blades 200 | | May 22, 2012 / 5:01 PM | | POS | NO | DRIVER/HOMETOWN | TEAM & CAR | TIME | SPEED | 1 | 92 | Brennan Newberry/San Diego CA | NTS Motorsports Chevrolet | 37.083 | 194.159 | 2 | 22 | Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ | Cunningham Motorsports Dodge | 37.092 | 194.112 | 3 | 61 | Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL | Coulter Motorsports Chevrolet | 37.129 | 193.918 | 4 | 25A | Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX | Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet | 37.249 | 193.294 | 5 | 15 | Ryan Reed/Bakersfield CA | Venturini Motorsports Ford | 37.299 | 193.035 | 6 | 17 | Chris Buescher/Prosper TX | Roulo Brothers Racing Ford | 37.324 | 192.905 | 7 | 12 | Jared Marks/Napoleon OH | TMR Dodge | 37.399 | 192.519 | 8 | 6 | Kyle Larson/Elk Grove CA | Chevrolet | 37.471 | 192.149 | 9 | 16 | Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC | Coulter Motorsports Chevrolet | 37.493 | 192.036 | 10 | 66 | John Blankenship/Knoxville TN | Venturini Motorsports Toyota | 37.498 | 192.010 | 11 | 32 | Aleks Gregory/Baton Rouge LA | Win-Tron Racing Toyota | 37.567 | 191.658 | 12 | 92A | Brandon Miller/San Diego CA | NTS Motorsports Chevrolet | 37.651 | 191.230 | 13 | 33 | Dylan Kwasniewski/Las Vegas NV | ESR Toyota | 37.729 | 190.835 | 14 | 45 | Clay Rogers/Troutman NC | Chevrolet | 37.777 | 190.592 | 15 | 55 | Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN | Venturni Motorsports Toyota | 37.829 | 190.330 | 16 | 32A | Brandon McReynolds/Mooresville NC | Win-Tron Racing Toyota | 38.052 | 189.215 | 17 | 99 | Brandon Davis/Huntington Beach CA | Roulo Brothers Racing Ford | 38.058 | 189.185 | 18 | 35 | Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela | Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet | 38.219 | 188.388 | 19 | 82 | Sean Corr/Goshen NY | Empire Racing Ford | 38.817 | 185.486 | 20 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV | Gallagher Racing Chevrolet | 39.224 | 183.561 | 21 | 88 | Buster Graham/Lafayette LA | Team BCR Ford | 39.473 | 182.403 | 22 | 18 | Trevor Edwards/Shepherdsville KY | Dodge | 39.889 | 180.501 | 23 | 7 | Kent Schenkel/Huntington IN | Schenkel Racing Dodge | 39.952 | 180.216 | 24 | 28 | Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI | Buckley Racing Chevrolet | 41.327 | 174.220 | 25 | 18A | Chris Brown/Mt. Washington KY | Dodge | 41.804 | 172.232 | 26 | 09 | Charles Evans Jr./Pasadena TX | Team BCR Ford | 43.175 | 166.763 |
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will visit Elko Speedway in Minnesota for the first time on Saturday, June 2, in the Akona 200 presented by Federated Car Care. In 60 seasons, the tour has hosted races in 28 states, and Minnesota will be the 29th. ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring and live audio coverage from the race, which will begin at 8 p.m. Central. 2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards' 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com. The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama's Mobile International Speedway for the first time. In June, the first event at Minnesota's Elko Speedway will give ARCA a race in a 29th state. Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events. CONTACT: Griffin Hickman, ARCA Don Radebaugh, ARCA |