Race Weekend Central

Patrick Staropoli Tops ARCA Charts in Final Practice at Daytona

The doctor has arrived. Patrick Staropoli, who won the inaugural Peak Stock Car Dream Challenge with Michael Waltrip Racing, paced the way during final practice for the ARCA Series season-opener at Daytona.

After testing with Empire Racing, the University of Miami medical school student received an opportunity to race the Lucas Oil 200 in the No. 82 Ford. During the first practice session of the weekend, Staropoli was 13th, with his Empire Racing teammates Sean Corr and Austin Hill preceding him.

However, in the final round of practice, the one-time K&N Pro Series West winner (at Iwindale in 2014) set the fastest speed at 189.930 mph, which gave him the fastest combined speed for both sessions.

“That was a pretty wild lap,” Staropoli told ARCAracing.com. “It was like an accordion out there, everyone in a line, then bunching up. I was in the right place at the right time and had my Empire Racing teammate Sean Corr helping me. It was fast.”

Ten-time ARCA Series champion Frank Kimmel, making his debut for Venturini Motorsports, was runner-up to Staropoli in final practice. Piloting the No. 25 Toyota, Kimmel is searching for his first victory at Daytona as he makes his 24th start at the 2.5-mile track.

Corr, Will Kimmel and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 5 in final practice. Nine of the top 10 drivers had the new ARCA Ilmor 396 engine package, with Brett Hudson in sixth being the exception.

Clay Campbell, president of Martinsville Speedway, is making his sixth career start in the ARCA Series this weekend. The 55-year-old, running for Ken Schrader Racing in the No. 52 car, was ninth in practice, and finished inside of the top 5 in last year’s race at Daytona.

2014 ARCA Series champion Mason Mitchell, who will not be running full-time this year, was 21st in the No. 78 car. Austin Wayne Self, who is running the No. 98 car for the full season, was in 26th place as he takes over for the reigning champion.

Other notables include Daniel Hemric in 23rd, along with Bobby Gerhart in 27th and Bobby Hamilton, Jr. in 35th.

Group qualifying is set for 3:30 p.m. Forty-nine cars are entered for 40 positions.

2015 Lucas Oil 200 Final Practice

1 82 Patrick Staropoli/Plantation FL American RF-Empire Racing Ford 47.386 189.930
2 25 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Toyota 47.388 189.921
3 48 Sean Corr/Goshen NY Nesco-New York Horsepower CarriageOn Ford 47.414 189.817
4 69 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN Vogtland Springs-AmericanMuscle.com-Accel Ford 47.448 189.681
5 15 Daniel Suarez/Monterrey Mexico Arris Toyota 47.464 189.617
6 09 Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY Brett Hudson Motorsports Dodge 47.468 189.601
7 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Barbera’s Autoland Dodge 47.542 189.306
8 8 Austin Hill/China Grove NC A&D Welding-ARCO Build & Design Ford 47.544 189.298
9 52 Clay Campbell/Martinsville VA Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet 47.692 188.711
10 66 Leilani Munter/Rochester MN Energy Freedom Toyota 47.705 188.659
11 17 Buster Graham/Lafayette LA Louisiana Tech Ford 47.728 188.569
12 12 Tyler Audie/Orlando FL Audie Expo Toyota 47.756 188.458
13 20 Scott Sheldon/Statesville NC Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 47.771 188.399
14 23 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL Alamo Rent A Car Chevrolet 47.799 188.288
15 11 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air Toyota 47.802 188.277
16 55 Cody Coughlin/Delaware OH JEGS Toyota 47.804 188.269
17 54 Matt Kurzejewski/Mansfield PA Lexington Inn & Suites Daytona Beach Chevrolet 47.821 188.202
18 83 Derrick Lancaster/Christiansburg VA Total Car & Truck Service Chevrolet 47.875 187.990
19 49 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Radon.com Ford 47.903 187.880
20 68 David Levine/Highland Park IL Gary Yeomans Ford 47.940 187.735
21 78 Mason Mitchell/West Des Moines IA Mason Mitchell Motorsports Ford 47.945 187.715
22 22 Blake Jones/Sevierville TN Uncle Ray’s Potato Chips-Carolina Nut Dodge 47.994 187.523
23 92 Daniel Hemric/Kannapolis NC California Clean Power Chevrolet 48.005 187.480
24 58 John Lowinski-Loh/Milford MA Gary Yeomans-Auto Go Ford 48.078 187.196
25 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Jones Group Ltd Toyota 48.166 186.854
26 98 Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX AM Technical Solutions Ford 48.186 186.776
27 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil-MAV TV Chevrolet 48.596 185.200
28 7 Tommy Barrett Jr./Millis MA Our Motorsports Chevrolet 48.705 184.786
29 76 Andy Seuss/Salisbury NC O.B. Builders Chevrolet 48.790 184.464
30 6 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL Southwest Florida Cable Construction Ford 48.857 184.211
31 3 Karl Weber/Ambia IN Silveus Financial Chevrolet 48.907 184.023
32 80 Russ Dugger/Owasso OK Gosselin-Finney Racing Chevrolet 49.064 183.434
33 1 J.J. Pack/Bealeton VA Bugsy’s Auto Ford 49.156 183.091
34 42 Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY Crosley-T&T Construction-Glad Precision Dodge 49.158 183.083
35 97 Bobby Hamilton Jr./Nashville TN Nitroforce Industries Titan 1000 Dodge 49.244 182.763
36 88 Cole Powell/Mount Brydges Ontario Tricar Developments Ford 49.291 182.589
37 18 Bill Catania/Westfield NY Bill Catania Racing Ford 49.301 182.552
38 95 Cassie Gannis/Phoenix AZ ManCaveSite.org Dodge 49.872 180.462
39 99 Brent Cross/Cortland NY Northeast Transformer Svc-Johnson Tool Chevrolet 49.940 180.216
40 06 Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY Double H Ranch Chevrolet 50.113 179.594
41 10 Garrett Smithley/Kannapolis NC Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 50.207 179.258
42 57 Bryan Dauzat/Concord NC O.B. Builders Chevrolet 50.222 179.204
43 0 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ Kan Do Chevrolet 50.322 178.848
44 03 Raymond Hassler/Chattanooga TN Affarano Racing Chevrolet 51.046 176.312
45 73 Dale Shearer/Chillicothe MO Shearer Racing Ford 51.381 175.162
46 00 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD ColonialBus-Roy’s Body Shop-RAD Ford 51.587 174.463
47 40 Donnie Neuenberger/Edgewater MD Records One Dodge 52.723 170.703

About the author

Joseph started with Fronstretch in Aug. 2014 and worked his way up to become an editor in less than a year. A native of Whitestone, New York, Joseph writes for NASCAR Pole Position magazine as a weekly contributor, along with being a former intern at Newsday and the Times Beacon Record Newspapers, each on Long Island. With a focus on NASCAR, he runs our social media pages and writes the NASCAR Mailbox column, along with other features for the site.

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