NASCAR Veteran's Lend a Hand at Daytona Testing

One thing I noticed as I read through the reports of testing at Daytona this past week was the number of NASCAR owners and drivers who were present to either watch or work with the ARCA drivers in their search for higher speed. Of course, some of these had a personal stake in the action, like car owner, Rick Hendrick, whose son Ricky was attempting to qualify, but for others, it appeared that their attendance was simply because of their interest in the younger drivers who may soon be joining them on the Winston Cup circuit.

The younger Hendrick also had help from another NASCAR veteran, driver Greg Sachs, who spent time in the pits with Ricky, and helped to give him advice on dealing with the most famous track in stock car racing, the Daytona Motor Speedway. Evidently his advice paid off as Hendrick had a 185.406 mph run and ended up 12th fastest for the trials.

Television analyst and former NASCAR champion, Buddy Baker was there keeping a close eye on Ryan Newman. Newman, a three time winner last season is driving for Roger Penske and it appears that Baker has tabbed him as one of those who might be moving up in the near future. Newman, driving a Ford Taurus, should have impressed Baker, since he turned the fastest speed of qualifying, 186.997 in preparation for February 11th's season opener, the Discount Auto Parts ARCA 200.

Another NASCAR legend, Red Farmer was there as well, keeping a close eye on Jason Jarrett. Jarrett, a third generation driver should be well on his way to NASCAR with his abilities shown last season. With a full ARCA season in front of him, he should have plenty of top 5 finishes and a few victories under his belt by season's end. At Daytona, he posted the second fastest speed of the testing period at 185.406 mph.

Jimmy Means, another former NASCAR driver was there too, working in the pits as crew chief for ARCA Rookie Rusty Wise. Evidently that experience paid off as Wise had the fastest Thunderbird in the trials with a top speed of 181.969 mph. With Jimmy's experience, there should be some good days ahead for Wise. Too bad he's in an older car and not in one of the newer ones. No telling where he could go if he were.

As more and more ARCA races begin to share weekends with the Winston Cup races, it appears there will be this kind of cooperation on an ever expanding scale. The experience of the Winston Cup drivers, combined with their memories of when they drove in the ARCA series, should lead to a closer relationship and even more competitive ARCA racing in the future.

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