John Wes Townley leads both Friday ARCA test sessions at Daytona

On Friday December 20th, the ARCA Racing Series took the high banks of Daytona for a pre-season test as teams prepare for the biggest race of the season – the Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona International Speedway. At the end of the first of three days, a familiar face appeared at the top of the charts.

2013 race winner John Wes Townley topped both the morning single-car session and the afternoon draft-session as he’ll look to make it two in a row in February. Townley, once again behind the No. 15 for Venturini Motorsports, brought Venturini their first Daytona 500 in the team’s 30 year history in the ARCA Racing Series after leading the final set of laps last year. He capped the year off with a solid third place finish at Kansas Speedway.

Townley led the morning single-car session with a lap of 49.45 seconds ahead of his Venturini teammate Michael Self. Self is looking to make his first Daytona start and first start in the ARCA Racing Series after success in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. Last season, Self scored three wins, 10 top fives and 13 top 10s in the 15 races to finish fourth in points for car owner Jim Offenbach.

ARCA veteran Tom Hessert was third quickest in his Cunningham Motorsports ride, followed by his teammate and rookie Austin Wayne Self. Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five after a successful 2013 season.

Eight-time Daytona 200 winner Bobby Gerhert was sixth followed by Venturini’s sophomore driver Justin Boston, Will Kimmel, Mark Thompson and Lelani Munter. Munter will return to the ARCA Series at Daytona in February driving a car for Venturini Motorsports.

Notably, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race winner Chase Elliott was 17th quickest.

When it came to the afternoon session, Townley topped the speed with a lap of 49.046 seconds ahead of Cunningham Motorsports teammates Tyler Reddick, Tom Hessert and Shannon McIntosh.

While Hessert is a veteran of the series, Reddick and McIntosh come into Daytona without a lot of experience. Reddick has only made three starts in the ARCA Racing Series, with his best finish being an eighth at Salem Speedway in 2012, while McIntosh has yet to made a start in the ARCA Racing Series. McIntosh is looking to transition into stock cars after running a couple seasons in U.S F2000 National Championship Series, which is part of the stepping ladder to the IndyCar ranks.

Self was fifth, followed by Kimmel, Justin Allison, Boston, Tanner Berryhill and Justin Marks. Allison is the grandson of NASCAR Legend Donnie Allison and the great nephew of NASCAR Legend Bobby Allison.

Testing continues at Daytona on Saturday and Sunday.

Practice Results

About the Author

Ashley McCubbin

Joining OnPitRoad.com mid-2013 season, Ashley McCubbin is now the Managing Editor and contributes to each racing division as needed. Since studying journalism at the University of Guelph-Humber, Ashley has published articles on a couple of different websites, while serving as a public relations representative for different short track teams. Born in North York, Ontario, Ashley currently lives in Bradford, Ontario and spends her weekend at the local short tracks in the area. She has spent her entire life at the short track level, falling in love with the sport at the age of five. Beyond her love of short track racing, she also has grown an interest for both NASCAR and the IndyCar Racing Series. She also enjoys taking photos and working on websites, while playing a couple rounds of Candy Crush afterwards.

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