Becca Monopoli started her ARCA Menards Series career in 2024, and she was hooked — even if the results weren’t stellar.
The 35-year-old from Lakeland, Fla., tested in the series’ preseason test at Daytona International Speedway and then attempted her debut in the season opener.
Unfortunately, she failed to qualify. She then teamed up with fellow Floridian Stuart Weiss to compete at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for City Garage Motorsports in the No. 85.
She started 19th, ahead of a few series regulars, but on lap 126, she wrecked out to a 27th-place DNF.
CGM repaired the car and Monopoli joined the field in the season finale at Toledo Speedway. There, she ran a clean race and came home with an 11th-place finish, albeit eight laps down.
“It was very fun the majority of the time,” she told Frontstretch. “Of course, IRP did not end on a fun note. But the experience and the getting to be there and learning a new car and new track and just learning about ARCA in general — then it was fun.”
Consider this: before running the Daytona test, ARCA racing was not on Monopoli’s radar.
“We hadn’t talked about or discussed it,” she said. “I got a phone call in January that said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in going to test an ARCA car at Daytona?’ ‘Yeah, of course, let’s go try it out.’ And it’s just kind of gone from there.
“We’ve never tried to run the Snowball Derby because the biggest thing is its expenses. It’s a great race to watch, but to go into it as an okay super late model driver, it’s not the best thing. But it’s about the same to run the Snowball Derby as it would be to run an ARCA race. And it’s easier on your equipment, and there’s more coverage and exposure too.”
After a DNQ and DNF to begin her ARCA career, simply running all the laps, staying out of trouble and outlasting some of her competition to finish 11th at Toledo was quite rewarding.
“After not having what we hoped for at IRP, our goal was to finish the race and get experience,” Monopoli said. “So we weren’t trying to push it too hard, but still wanted to be competitive and keep the nose clean. We were successful in that. Yes, I was laps down, but I got an 11th-place finish. It was cool. I got the lucky dog at one point in the race as well, and I liked the track. I learned the line in the groove and what to do. I feel like when we go back next year, we’ll be even better for our finishing position.”
With the 2024 season complete, CGM and Monopoli will compete in eight races next year. She will pilot the No. 85 at Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, IRP and Toledo, as well as the ARCA Menards Series East race at Five Flags Speedway. Monopoli could not remember the other three — ARCA, sans one race for its West division, is in offseason mode. Obviously, she would love to run more races if additional sponsorship can be obtained.
CGM primary sponsor Orlando Health had a preexisting relationship with team owner Weiss, as he is also a high school football coach.
“We want to make Daytona,” a CGM team member said at Toledo.
Monopoli wants to as well, though she is also concerned about the unpredictability of Florida weather. If qualifying is canceled and if the field is set via owner points, Monopoli will likely not make the race due to the team’s lack of owner points.
For 2025, CGM has two racecars: a newly acquired superspeedway car and a short track car. The team bought the short track car from Willie Mullins. Under the hood is a new Ilmor engine, purchased en route to Toledo for that race.
“I’m pretty realistic,” Monopoli said of her goals. “Yes, I would love to win, but I also know that I’m a rookie and the competition is very good. So my goal this year is just to do our best, do everything we can as a team to grow; get as much seat time, as many laps and finish all the races.
“That is my goal, just to do the best that I can. If I can finish top 10 or top five, that’d be amazing. I’m not going out here thinking I’m going to win two or three races this year. If it happens, oh my gosh, that’d be amazing. But I’m realistic. I don’t expect that yet.”
She has someone familiar coaching her atop the pit box as her crew chief: her father, Tom.
“It’s a good advantage because he’s my crew chief and spotter for when I race locally,” she said. “So even if I don’t know the correct verbiage for something, he knows what I’m trying to say. So he’ll know the adjustments and how I like the car to feel, so he knows what message to relay to the team. It’s good to have someone I’m comfortable with rather than not having someone else who understands what I’m saying. We’ll negotiate back and forth a little on how I feel. He listens more than someone who doesn’t know me would.”
At 35 years old, Monopoli is not a young up-and-comer in the racing industry. Nevertheless, she just wants to race, be it in the NASCAR national series, ARCA or anything with wheels and an engine, to be honest.
“My goal is to take advantage of whatever opportunities are ahead of me,” she added. “I would love to move up, but I’m old for a racecar driver who’s just starting. I don’t know what the future holds; I hope it holds more racing. Getting to race anything is better than racing nothing. I just want to drive; I just want to race.
“I’ve wanted to race since I was younger but my parents wouldn’t let me race. I did not start until I was 21. I started late, so I just want to race as much as I can. I’ll drive anything. It’s fun to me. I like the competition on the track. The mechanic side — off the track — I’m not interested [in], but being in the seat on the track with the cars next to you, that’s just fun to me.”
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.