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It was one of the most talked about ARCA races in the long 50+ year existence of the Auto Racing Club of America (ARCA). This year’s Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Raceway featured a diverse and intense field of competitors. With drivers representing multiple countries and with six women also in competition, this field may have been the most competitive in years. Today was the stock car debuts of IndyCar driver Danica Patrick and Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Jr, among 21 drivers making their first start in the ARCA series today. In a race marred with spectacular cautions and close-quarters racing, it took a fuel gamble by veteran and 5-time ARCA 200 at Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart to settle the battle on the track.

Six laps into the race, “the big one” brought out the first caution of the day. Bill Baird in the #52 car got loose in turn 1, collecting multiple cars with him, totaling twelve involved. The next caution occurred on the ensuing restart, when #22 car of Dakoda Armstrong got pushed out of control by the #35 of John Wes Townley, leading to Craig Goess t-boning Armstrong with his #81 Toyota. Another restart then led to another spectacular wreck. #29 of Jesse Smith blew a tire in turn 4, hitting the wall. Then, #48 of Jill George went down to the apron to avoid car #29, but instead lost control of her car, spun back up the track, got airborne, hit the wall as the car was on its side, and finally barrel-rolling to a halt at the entrance of pit road. The final caution was eerily similar to that of Jill George, when the #09 car of Barry Fitzgerald barreled down the backstretch 5 times before coming to a rest upside down.

In the end, it came down to an eighteen lap shootout among ten drivers at the front. Bobby Gerhart held onto the lead, fending off the moves of #66 of Mark Thompson, #60 of Patrick Sheltra, and #15 Alli Owens. Meanwhile, #7 of Danica Patrick rallied back from a late spin off of contact with #6 Nelson Piquet Jr to finish 6th. Here is the rest of the results of the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200:

1. 5 Bobby Gerhart

2. 66 Mark Thompson

3. 35 John Wes Townley

4. 51 James Buescher

5. 60 Patrick Sheltra

6. 7 Danica Patrick

7. 4 Ricky Carmichael

8. 95 Tommy Joe Martins

9. 11 Bryan Silas

10. 55 Steve Arpin

11. 32 Justin Marks

12. 28 Chris Cockrum

13. 36 Robb Brent

14. 83 Sean Corr

15. 77 Tom Hessert

16. 25 Mikey kile

17. 21 Jennifer Jo Cobb

18. 23 Frank Wilson

19. 31 Tim George Jr.

20. 1 Nick Igdalsky

21. 30 Terry Jones

22. 34 Darrell Basham

23. 15 Alli Owens

24. 26 Brad Smith

25. 44 Frank Kimmel

26. 16 Joey Coulter

27. 6 Nelson Piquet Jr.

28. 14 Chase Mattioli

29. 06 Barry Fitzgerald

30. 09 Grant Efinger

31. 48 Jill George

32. 29 Jesse Smith

33. 22 Dakoda Armstrong

34. 81 Craig Goess

35. 17 Hal Martin

36. 52 Bill Baird

37. 68 Steve Blackburn

38. 12 Russ Dugger

39. 59 Leilani Munter

40. 58 Chad Hackenbracht

41. 0 Butch Jarvis

42. 99 Josh Richards

43. 90 Milka Duno

The next race for the ARCA Racing Series Presented by REMAX and Menard’s will be at the road course at Palm Beach Speedway on February 27th.