The annual ARCA Menards Series pre-race practice at Daytona International Speedway will occur on Thursday and Friday (Jan. 9 and 10). Before you ask, no, it is not televised. Live timing and scoring will be available on the ARCA website.
Seventy-seven drivers are entered. Not everyone will contest the season opener at Daytona as some racecars will have multiple drivers at this practice. Additionally, it is not a requirement for drivers and teams to complete the test to receive their license to compete in the Daytona race.
Nevertheless, armed with a Menards entitlement sponsor renewal, TV contract renewal of both FOX Sports and FloRacing, and a list of drivers that includes Dancing with the Stars winner Helio Castroneves, Richard Petty’s grandson Thad Moffitt, the father-son duo of Dale and Alex Quarterley, among others, who are 10 drivers you ought to keep your eyes on during this practice?
ARCA Daytona Pre-Race Practice Entry List
Brenden Queen
Brenden Queen enters 2025 with momentum on his side. He won the 2024 zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car championship on the strength of two wins, he impressed in a three-race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series foray and he is an instant title contender.
Pinnacle Racing Group showcased Connor Zilisch’s talent in 2024 and is fielding a driver, Queen, full time for the national series title for the first time.
Queen has competed in an ARCA car at Daytona before, in fact his only series start. He crashed out to a 29th-place DNF in the 2019 season opener.
Butterbean has shown he’s talented. PRG has proven it has race-winning equipment, Chevrolet support and Shane Huffman heading its program. It’s a match made with championship dreams.
The championship will not be won or lost at Daytona. Still, if Butterbean posts fast lap times at Daytona, the rest of the series regulars will have their work cut out for them to keep pace with his No. 28 Chevrolet.
Ty Fredrickson
Less than a month before my 33rd birthday, Ty Fredrickson makes me feel old. I’ve seen his father Dan Fredrickson compete at short tracks in Wisconsin. Now 15-year-old Ty will pilot an ARCA racecar. He’ll wheel the No. 46 Toyota for Nitro Motorsports, a new ARCA organization.
Sans his participation in the 2024 World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, Fredrickson does not have much experience on a national level. He earned his Road to Daytona entry by winning the ASA Midwest Tour Rookie of the Year Award. He also boasts the 2024 Kulwicki Driver Development Program championship.
Because he is only 15, Fredrickson is too young to compete at Daytona in February. Still, if a new Toyota organization, allied with Venturini Motorsports, chose Fredrickson for its on-track debut, albeit only practice laps, that says something. It would not surprise me if we see Fredrickson back in an ARCA car for a points race in 2025.
Corey Day
Corey Day continues his transition from dirt to asphalt racing by piloting the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. His 2025 plans have not been revealed though he is rumored to be pursuing NASCAR opportunities.
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series team. Similar to how Joe Gibbs Racing ARCA drivers have ascended the NASCAR ladder, Day’s career may be on a similar trajectory.
In 2024, he made four Truck Series starts and three ARCA starts. Of those three ARCA starts, he earned two top 10s, a fourth and a seventh. His raw talent means he has a high ceiling for success.
Yet his massive asphalt inexperience showed up too. In his ARCA debut, after running inside the top 10 for most of the race, he tried a bold move to pass Lavar Scott. It didn’t work well; Day crashed out to a 15th-place DNF. Then in his third race at Kansas Speedway, while he finished fourth, he also made Andy Jankowiak unhappy. It’s not advisable to make adversaries this early into one’s racing career.
Will Day compete in the ARCA race at Daytona? I have no idea. So, watch where he winds up on the leaderboard both days. If his time and or position improves, he’ll have demonstrated he can pilot a racecar at high speeds on a superspeedway. That’s different than racing a dirt car.
Kole Raz
Kole Raz has been linked to AM Racing. The team finished sixth and eighth in the owner point standings the past two years with Christian Rose behind the wheel. Rose graduated to Trucks but his ARCA results were not overly impressive, totaling only five top fives, 23 top 10s and six laps led.
Raz on the other hand already has an ARCA series trophy. He won the first ARCA Menards Series West race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in a photo finish. In seven total West starts, Raz has one win, three top fives and six top 10s. In the ’24 season finale, Raz drove for AM and placed ninth.
So if Raz performs well in the practice, it’s a sign that this pairing could be special this year if it continues.
Helio Castroneves
Yes, Castroneves won Dancing with the Stars. On the racetrack, he is an Indianapolis 500 legend as he is one of only four NTT IndyCar Series drivers to have won that race four times.
He is a three-time 24 Hours of Daytona winner, an event held on the Daytona International Speedway road course.
Castroneves has some experience at the Daytona oval, running there four times in an IROC event.
Castroneves is using this practice in preparation for the ARCA season opener … in preparation for the Daytona 500. Yes, the driver nicknamed Superman will be attempting his Cup debut. Castroneves’ venture into NASCAR comes three years after he won the Superstar Racing Experience race at Five Flags Speedway.
Castroneves must find speed and acclimate to drafting in his No. 82 Chevrolet. Not only will it be good preparation for him to draft with others ahead of the pack racing drafting in February, both in ARCA and Cup, but he will likely have to qualify for the ARCA race on time. Sources indicate there will be DNQs in the ARCA race at Daytona. Unless PRG acquires owner points, its No. 82 finished 27th in the standings.
Eyes will be on Castroneves because of his celebrity status, so any mistakes will be magnified. From a racing perspective though, Castroneves will have to qualify for the ARCA race and Daytona 500 on speed. My advice to Castroneves and PRG: run a lap early on Thursday. Then wait before making another lap. Let others top him on the speed charts. Go back on track and try to best their times, and repeat that process.
Chase Pinsonneault
Chase Pinsonneault has a famous late model owner, Cup driver Carson Hocevar. Pinsonneault will run full time in the ASA Stars National Tour in 2025.
Making his ARCA debut in the season opener at Daytona is different than running late models. Pinsonneault is in the Venturini Motorsports No. 15, so he will be running top-notch equipment.
Pinsonneault ran a bunch of late model races in 2024, but he only scored a lone victory in the CRA JEGS All-Stars Tour. In the pro late model Snowflake 100 at 5 Flags, he finished 14th. Piloting an ARCA car seems like a leap, right?
And the pressure will be on him to perform well at Daytona in practice. After all, VMS excels at Daytona, dominating the race and winning it last year. VMS is bringing a talented lineup to Daytona in February with Jake Finch, Isabella Robusto and Lawless Alan. Pinsonneault must show he can not only handle an ARCA car at these speeds in practice but can also be fast. VMS expects him to do so.
Treyten Lapcevich
Canadian Treyten Lapcevich scored victories in ’24 in the South Carolina 400 and the first CARS LMSC race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
After finishing sixth in the CARS LMSC standings, sources have indicated Lapcevich will go ARCA racing in 2025. He is ready for it.
He is testing for Venturini. His 2025 plans have not been announced, so a solid showing in practice would serve him well.
CARS Tour and Canadian race fans know Lapcevich, but how many others in the industry do? Running solidly, listening to his team and earning respect in the garage should be his three goals for practice. Posting a fast time would help too.
Kyle Steckly
Kyle Steckly finished runner up in ASA Stars points in 2024 with his lone win in the famed Redbud 400 at Anderson Speedway.
Steckly ended his 2024 by failing to make the Snowball Derby. It left a bad taste in his mouth.
Now he’s testing for Rette Jones Racing at Daytona. Steckly drove for RJR in late models last year too.
Mark Rette only fielded his ARCA team in four races in 2024, earning three top 10s. The previous year Frankie Muniz drove full time for the team. Rather than focus on trying to piece together a full-time run in ’24, Rette chose to work with Steckly.
During the Snowball Derby race weekend, Steckly told Frontstretch that he would love to race in ARCA this year. Impressing Rette in this practice could be a determinant for whether RJR indeed fields him in ARCA races this year.
Katherine Legge
Castroneves has the IndyCar accolades, but Katherine Legge also has 19 series starts. She too will be running the ARCA Daytona race, driving for Sigma Performance Services.
SPS has increased its ARCA participation, from a part-time West run in ’23 to full-time West in ’24 to a full-time East run this year with the likelihood of more races.
The organization earned its maiden victory in the West race at Sonoma Raceway in ’24. It has Tyler Reif chasing the East championship this year. Legge hopes to begin its year with success at Daytona.
As an ARCA proponent, I’m thrilled to see another team increasing its participation. However, growth does not always equalize success.
Can Legge post fast lap times in practice? Will the team make the proper adjustments to improve its No. 23? Like Castroneves, SPS finished 28th in ’24 ARCA owner points. Therefore, Legge will likely have to make the season opener on speed. That’s pressure on any driver, let alone someone attempting her debut.
If Legge and SPS perform well in practice, it is a jolt of confidence she can make the race and run well and the team can excel this year.
Lanie Buice and Eloy Sebastian
OK, I said 10 drivers … and this makes 11. Except these two, Lanie Buice and Eloy Sebastian, are driving the No. 2 for Rev Racing. That’s the entry that Andres Perez drove to the title last year and Nick Sanchez did in 2022.
Buice’s resume lacks major events whereas Sebastian won the 2024 NASCAR Mexico Challenge Series title. Sebastian will soon turn 20 and Buice is 18.
Rev has not announced its ARCA plans for this year yet, though ARCA Racing spoiled Scott’s return. So that leaves questions about its No. 2; will it be part time, full time, with one driver or two? Buice and Sebastian’s performances are opportunities for them to show they are continuing their growth in the Rev program.
The ARCA season opener at Daytona will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m. ET on FOX.
About the author
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.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.