| GERHART MAKES HISTORY AT DAYTONA, 4 GOOD! |
After earning a record fourth consecutive Pork Pole award on Friday, the Lebanon, Pennsylvania driver etched his name in the history books deeper yet after winning a record fourth Daytona ARCA 200. Gerhart had been tied with the late six-time series champion Iggy Katona with three victories at the renowned 2.5-mile speedplant. Additionally, Gerhart became the first-ever back-to-back RE/MAX Series winner at Daytona, which ran its inaugural race there in 1964. “We prepared so much more for this race this year than ever before, and here we are,” said a jubilant Gerhart from victory lane. “There is more focus on this race than any other place we go; if you’re going to win somewhere, this is the place to do it. “But it’s never easy. Seems like you get so many cautions here, which continually breaks your concentration. You’ve really got to keep your mind in the game at this place; it’s every bit as important as driver ability. Track position’s everything here.” Gerhart dominated the race leading all but five laps of the 83-lap event, which was extended by three laps to accommodate a green-white-checker finish. Gerhart’s command over the field was even more impressive considering the plethora of development teams in the race from Robert Yates Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Kevin Harvick, Inc. and Roush Racing. Yates development rookie driver Matt McCall, making his career first series start in the Citi Financial Ford, was in the hunt all the way finishing second .190 seconds away from Gerhart. “Robert Yates has put together a great ARCA driver development program,” said McCall. “I came here to learn, and the biggest thing I learned was that you have to have (drafting) help. The competition keeps picking up in the ARCA Series. Can’t believe how many good cars were up front.” Matt Hagans, after getting shuffled back late in the race, made a late-race charge to finish third in his own Eagle Creek Aviation Dodge. “All the guys did a great job,” said Hagans. “When we were behind the 5 (Gerhart), we both went faster. The cars just didn’t seem to run as fast when the 55 (McCall) was behind us. We do this with an in-house motor program; this is the strongest motor we’ve ever had.” Rookie Burney Lamar, driving for Harvick, steered his way all the way from the 20th starting position to finish fourth in only his second series start. Damon Lusk, in Adrian Berryhill’s National Cash Lenders Dodge, finished fifth. Pork polesitter Gerhart gave up the lead just once when he pitted for right-side tires only and fuel on lap 28. Back under green, it took just two laps to get the lead back, one he would not relinquish. Cautions slowed the field seven times for 47 laps for a variety of multi-car wrecks including one with less than ten laps remaining on the backstretch. After clean-up was complete, series officials extended the race by three laps so that the race could finish under green. There were no injuries. Both Ken Weaver, in his own Phoneco Dodge, and Billy Venturini, in the Central Merchant Services Chevrolet, raced from the back of the pack to finish sixth and seventh respectively. Mario Gosselin finished eighth in the JPN-Dan Marc Construction-Manfull Investment Chevrolet. TJ Bell was ninth in the ibid motors-Palomar Insurance Dodge. Defending series champion Frank Kimmel, who started 31st, finished tenth in the Pork The Other White Meat Ford earning the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions. Gerhart’s brother and crew chief Billy Gerhart earned the SK Hand Tool Crew Chief of the Race honors. The race, originally scheduled to be run Saturday afternoon, went off Sunday morning after persistent rain showers postponed Saturday’s on-track activities. The next event for the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be the PFG Lester 150 from Nashville Superspeedway on April 15th. |