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Story By: CHARLES KRALL / ARCA – DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Defending ARCA Menards Series East champion William Sawalich led the way in the second and final day of on-track activity at the annual ARCA Menards Series pre-race practice at Daytona International Speedway.
Sawalich, driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, timed in at 49.318 seconds/182.489 miles per hour. His speed was 0.014 seconds quicker than NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour veteran Patrick Emerling, who timed in at 49.332 seconds/182.437 miles per hour in his No. 53 Emerling/Gase Motorsports Ford.
Andres Perez, who will compete in all 20 ARCA Menards Series races in 2024, was third in the No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet at 49.357 seconds/182.375 miles per hour. Anthony Bello, in the No. 02 Youngs Motorsports Chevy, and Tanner Gray in a second Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota rounded out the top five.
Veteran Dale Quarterley was sixth, inaugural Chicago Street Race winner Shane van Gisbergen was seventh, Mandy Chick was eighth, Thomas Annunziata was ninth, and Jeff Scofield rounded out the top ten.
Saturday’s on-track activity was slowed twice for incidents.
The first involved Bounty Rookie Challenge driver Isaac Johnson and his teammate in defending Daytona winner Greg Van Alst. Johnson struck a piece of debris, doing significant damage to the nose and oil lines of his No. 34 Ford.
Van Alst was in a tight draft with Johnson and the debris also struck his car. Johnson’s car dropped a significant amount of oil on the track surface, necessitating a lengthy clean-up that lasted nearly 30 minutes.
Shortly after going back under green, Jeff Scofield cut a tire exiting turn four and spun in a tight pack of cars. Andrew Patterson, driving the No. 73 KLAS Motorsports Ford, lost control trying to avoid Scofield and the two cars made contact as they slid towards the inside wall.
Scofield’s car had significant damage to the left side, while Patterson’s car suffered damage to the nose and right front fender. Both drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center.
Jake Finch set the best overall time between the two sessions on Friday evening at 48.878 seconds/184.132 miles per hour. He did this while in a draft with fellow Venturini Motorsports teammates Toni Breidinger, Kris Wright and Gus Dean.
The ARCA Menards Series will return to Daytona International Speedway in February to officially kick off the 2024 season with the 61st annual Daytona ARCA 200. Practice is set for Thursday, Feb. 15, General Tire Pole Qualifying will follow on Friday, Feb. 16, and the 80-lap/200-mile race is set for 1:30 pm ET on Saturday, Feb. 17.