TALLADEGA AL (1-23-06) – With the 43rd annual Daytona ARCA 200 just around the corner, more testing took center stage over the weekend at Talladega Superspeedway where 7 ARCA RE/MAX Series teams posted speeds. Leading the way was the 2-car effort from brothers’ Bobby and Billy Gerhart, whose Lucas Oil Chevrolet topped the charts at more than 185 mph.

The Gerharts tested two Monte Carlos, a new car as well as the same car that Bobby won the Daytona ARCA 200 in last year.

“At this point, we think we’re going with the new car for Daytona,” said Billy. “But we haven’t made the final decision yet; but both cars were very solid. The test went really, really well.

“The test was really important for the new car because we hadn’t drafted in that car yet. We ran a lot of laps and drafted with AJ (Henriksen). The new car performed very, very well in the draft.”

It was the third time the Gerharts headed south to test for this year’s Daytona ARCA 200.

“We’re very happy with the results, but we’re not ruling out another trip (test session) before Daytona,” added Billy. “We learned a lot over the last month; but we refuse to be completely satisfied. We’re never done at this.”

Bobby Gerhart, who just recently re-signed Lucas Oil for all the televised events in 2006, will be shooting for a record 4th Daytona ARCA 200 victory. Currently, Gerhart and the late Iggy Katona are the only drivers who have 3 Daytona ARCA triumphs.

After rain completely washed out the on-track activity on Saturday, the track finally dried enough by 11 am Sunday to allow more than a half dozen teams to test. Gerhart, unofficially, posted the top speed of 185.581 mph in the new machine. Gerhart’s winning Monte Carlo from last year’s Daytona race, was next on the charts at 184.865.

AJ Henriksen, in a Ford, was next in line at 184.450 followed by rookie Blake Bforklund, in the Country Joe Homes Dodge, at 183.098. Three-time ASA national champion Kevin Czwinski was assisting Bforklund in the effort.

Justin Diercks, in the ML Motorsports Chevrolet, posted a speed of 181.708 over Doug Reid’s Chevy (181.210), Billy Venturini's Chevy (180.310) and Keith Murt's Chevy (180.112). All times weere unoffcial.

The 43rd annual Daytona ARCA 200 is LIVE on SPEED Saturday afternoon, February 11 at 4 pm