Full Throttle

Bobby Gerhart has made a career out of winning the ARCA RE/MAX Series season opening event on the high banks of Daytona. He added to his DIS resume by winning his 5th ARCA 200.

He led 54 of the 80 laps and avoided the seven caution flags for 46 laps. It was his third consecutive victory in the event, backing up victories he scored here in 1999 and 2002.

“It’s not old hat, I promise you,” Gerhart said. “It’s just as exciting as the first one. There’s a lot of emotion bottled up here, it’s just not going to come out here.”

Erin Crocker stopped Gerhart’s strangle hold on the DIS pole (he was shooting for his third consecutive) with a lap of 182.219 mph in her Evernham Motorsports Dodge. But when the green fell it was Gerhart leading the first lap and he dominated throughout.

Crocker remained competitive and with the leaders until cutting down a tire. The quick change of rubber placed her 19^th but her comeback wasn’t to be. On a later restart she was punted from behind, sailed through the infield and finished the event in 20th place.

“Yeah, I wanted to come away here with a win, but it is what it is,” she said. “It happened. We had a good car. It wasn’t for a lack of effort on anyone’s part. I still feel really positive about this year.”

Brandon Whitt and Josh Wise, making Toyota’s first ever appearance in an ARCA event, were both involved in accidents and finished 34^th and 36^th respectively.

ARCA, Automobile Racing Club of America, DIS, Daytona International Speedway, Bobby Gerhart, Sports, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle