NEW ARCA RACING SERIES BODY EXPECTED TO COMPETE AT TOLEDO MAY 17
NEW ARCA RACING SERIES BODY EXPECTED TO COMPETE AT TOLEDO MAY 17
Toledo, Ohio—January 23, 2015: While the start of the 2015 racing season is just a few weeks away, several major changes to the cars of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will be noticeable when the national tour pays its annual visit to Toledo Speedway Sunday, May 17 for the ARCA 200 presented by Federated Car Care.
The all-new composite body features Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry and Chevy SS body styles nearly identical to NASCAR Sprint Cup bodies and is now eligible for competition on tracks 1 mile and less for the upcoming schedule including Toledo. The car of Will Kimmel made a surprise visit to Daytona International Speedway last Friday to test at the 2 ½ mile superspeedway oval. Kimmel, the only driver who tested the composite body, was eighth fastest (186.765 mph) in the No. 69 Kimmel Racing Ford Fusion among 38 cars that tested.
“Everything went really good,” Kimmel said. “The new Five Star body performed great…no loose ends, nothing moving in the draft. Overall, I’m really happy with it. I think ARCA’s going to do really well with this car. We had to make some changes to the car to get it to run faster when you’re carrying that much body, but it responded to all our changes and went fast. I was pleasantly surprised. Very stable.”
Officials from ARCA, NASCAR and Five Star Race Car Bodies were on location for Friday’s test at Daytona gathering data. The composite body project is part of an overall cost containment initiative for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
The ARCA Racing Series composite body is expected to debut at Mobile Int’l Speedway in the ARCA Mobile 200 March 14 and be in on track at Nashville April 11 and Salem April 26 prior to Toledo May 17. As the season unfolds, more of the new composite material bodied cars are expected to comprise the starting fields at each race.
ARCA Racing Series teams have the option at short track venues in 2015 to compete with the showroom stock-appearing Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion and Chevrolet SS body packages, constructed with state of the art, composite laminate blend materials engineered to be lightweight and durable, and to resist deflection at high speeds. The complete body is comprised of 12 flange-fit modular panels, for ease of installation and quick replacement, and weighs less than 135 pounds.
A variety of events are already in the works for the May 15-16-17 Toledo race weekend. Friday night, rig parking and the NASCAR Truck race will be on the TVs at the Speedway Bar and Grille.
The ARCA Truck Series will compete in a 50 lap contest Saturday afternoon, May 16 as part of practice and pole qualifying day for the big tour. Saturday night at the Bar and Grille will see an ARCA Truck Series Reunion event and the NASCAR All-Star Race from Charlotte will be featured on the televisions.
Reserved seat tickets for the ARCA 200 presented by Federated Car Care are now on sale by calling the Toledo track office at 419-727-1100.