DAYTONA BEACH FL (1-22-08) - In 1964, the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the year closed at 874; the average cost of a new home was $13,050; gas was 30 cents per gallon; a ticket to the movies was $1.25; Dr. Martin Luther King received the Nobel Peace Prize; US Congress authorized the war against N. Vietnam; the first Ford Mustang was manufactured; the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show; and the ARCA RE/MAX Series, already 12 years old, debuted at Daytona Int'l Speedway marking its first-ever superspeedway appearance. And the rest is history.

The countdown to the 45th annual ARCA 200 at Daytona is undeniably on. In just over 18 days, the ARCA RE/MAX Series will kick off Speedweeks 2008. As entries continue to pour in, the anticipation runs high as the most competitive field in series history is expected to assemble at the "World Center of Racing", all hoping to add their names to the prestigious and impressive list of winners.

Daytona winners through the years are a who's who of iconic names including Nelson Stacy who won the inaugural 250-miler at Daytona in 1964 before ARCA Icon Iggy Katona triumphed in '65. Katona, who would go on to win six national titles, also earned three wins at Daytona with additional victories in '71 and '74. Katona's win in '74 was at the age of 57, which still today marks the oldest superspeedway winner of all time. Katona's victory in '74 also signified the return to 200 miles as the official race distance, which is still true today. Then Jack Bowsher officially recorded his name in the history books with a win at Daytona in '66 before heading off to the USAC stock car world.

Ralph Latham won the 250-mile race at Daytona in '67 before Andy Hampton stepped to the plate in '68 with a victory in what had increased to a 300-mile race. Hampton repeated as the Daytona victor in '72. Two-time series champion Benny Parsons steered his way to victory lane in ÇÚ69 after earning the pole with an average speed of 185.204 mph. Ironically, in 2007, the pole speed was 182.219, a sign of the present-day restrictor plate world. In fact, Parsons won three consecutive poles at Daytona (68, 69, 70), qualifying with an average speed of 190.564 mph in 1970! Parsons's consecutive pole record at Daytona held for more than 30 years before Bobby Gerhart checked of four consecutive Daytona poles in 2003, ÇÚ04, ÇÚ05 & ÇÚ06.

Two-time national champion Ramo Stott won the 300-miler in '70 prior to Charlie Blanton's victory in '73. Winners through the 70s included Ron Hutcherson (75), Lennie Pond (76), Woody Fisher (77), Jim Sauter (78) and a famous third-generation racer by the name of Kyle Petty in '79, who won the race going away in a 1978 Dodge Magnum.

More big name winners would follow as Daytona victors throughout the 1980s to include John Rezek (80), Tim Richmond (81), Joe Ruttman (82), Ferrel Harris (83), Rick Wilson (84), Glenn Sears (85), Grant Adcox (86), Ralph Jones (87), Mickey Gibbs (88) and Ben Hess to close out the year as the Daytona winner in 1989. Hess also repeated with a win in 1991. The 1989 race also made history when Patty Moise became the first-ever female pole winner at Daytona with an average speed of 191.279 mph. It would be nearly 20 years before another female would return as the Daytona pole winner when Erin Crocker wrote her name in the history books earning the pole in 2007.

The 1990s followed with more big name winners including Jimmy Horton, who won in 1990 and ÇÚ92. Jeff Purvis got his name out there in a big way with wins at Daytona in '93 and '96. Another well-known stock car name went to victory lane in '94 when Mike Wallace held off three-time series champion Tim Steele and Tim Fedewa to take the top trophy. Although Steele would go on to dominate the ARCA RE/MAX Series superspeedway stat books throughout the 1990s, the Coopersville, Michigan driver never managed a victory at Daytona, reminiscent of nine-time series champion Frank Kimmel who's won seemingly everywhere except Daytona.

Open-wheeler Andy Hillenburg, who would go on to win the 1995 ARCA RE/MAX Series driving title, first got the attention of the stock car world when he drove the #52 Air Orlando-WESH Chevrolet to victory lane at Daytona in '95, holding off Gary Bradberry, Mike Wallace and Joe Ruttman for the win. Hillenburg repeated as the Daytona winner in '97 in James Finch's Gravy Train Dog Food Chevrolet.

The decade of the 2000s would showcase some high-profile driver development teams which, with one big exception - ARCA restrictor plate King Bobby Gerhart - would occupy a good portion of the Daytona headlines in the modern era. And it was the late Kenny Irwin who showed the way in the driver development concept with a big win at Daytona in '98 in a Robert Yates-prepared Ford. This seemed to set off a wave of driver development teams who would utilize the ARCA RE/MAX Series as a viable source for developing young, upcoming talent. But it was Gerhart who proved to be their biggest obstacle in the way of victory lane when the Lebanon , Pennsylvania second-generation racer became the driver to beat at Daytona starting with his first victory there in 1999.

David Keith opened the new decade with a Daytona victory in 2000 before Roger Penske's Ryan Newman held off ARCA lions' Bob Strait, Frank Kimmel and Kirk Shelmerdine to win in 2001. Outside of Chase Montgomery's triumph at Daytona in 2003 and Hendrick Motorsports development driver Kyle Busch's win in 2004 it's been all Gerhart, who after winning in 2002, returned to earn an unprecedented three consecutive Daytona victories in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In Gerhart's three consecutive wins, he has led an incredible 83% of the total number of laps run, a stat unmatched at Daytona.

So who's it going to be in 2008? It's anybody's guess. According to Gerhart, the line-up at Daytona "will be the most competitive in series history." Considering the growing entry list, it would be difficult to disagree.

Entrants already include, from the driver development ranks, Hendrick Motorsports (driver Landon Cassill), Roush Fenway Racing (driver Ricky Stenhouse), Ganassi Racing (driver Dario Franchitti), Cunningham/Dodge Motorsports (driver Tayler Malsam) and Rusty Wallace, Inc (driver Chase Austin).

These, combined with a rock-solid line-up from the ARCA RE/MAX Series regulars, should prove to be the perfect recipe for excitement on a grand scale when the 45th annual ARCA 200 at Daytona rolls off LIVE on SPEED, Saturday afternoon, February 9th at 4:00 pm ET.

The first practice session forthe ARCA RE/MAX Series is schedule from 12 noon to 5:00 pm Thursday, February 7th. SIM Factory Pole Award Qualifying is set for 12 noon Friday afternoon followed by final practice from 5:10 to 6:15 pm late Friday.