Lira Motorsports announces today that they will be testing at Michigan International Speedway in preparation for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards event in two weeks with drivers Morgen Baird and Brandon Lynn.
Baird, a Lira Motorsports pro-late model driver out of Grass Lake, Michigan, has tested an ARCA car with the team at Nashville Fairgrounds; however, he doesn’t have experience on a track configured like Michigan. He has a strong background in local short track racing, which means he has experience in half mile tracks and shorter, but nothing compared to the great lengths of the two-mile track in the Irish Hills.
“I want to get as comfortable as possible and learn as much as I possibly can. I want to improve every time I hit the track and give good information back to the team on how the car acts so we can figure out what we need to do to make the car as fast it can be,” said Baird.
Baird hopped in the No. 69 Lira Motorsports Ford Fusion Pro-late model at New Smyrna Speedway during the World Series of Asphalt in February, marking his first start with this team. He qualified seventh in day one and ninth in day two. While night one ended early for him, he was able to clinch a top-15 in the second night of competition.
He is a multi-time Great Lakes Super Mini-Cup champion and the 2010 Springport Motor Speedway track champion.
“This opportunity means everything to me, especially being at MIS,” Baird said. “I’ve always wanted to run there, and now thanks to Carlos, I get the opportunity. Plus, being able to test at the fastest speedway on the NASCAR circuit is pretty exciting too. We had a successful test down in Nashville with Lira and I hope we can have an even better test at MIS. I can’t thank Carlos enough for giving me this opportunity to advance my racing career and believing in me enough to have me back behind the wheel of one of his cars.
Brandon Lynn, full-time rookie in the No. 36 Cribs Creek Outfitters Ford Fusion, will be joining the Michigan test as well. Lynn, who has only 7 career ARCA Racing starts under his belt, has never seen the intermediate track.
Not only will this be Lynn’s first time tackling the infamous speedway, but it will also be the first time the composite bodied car hits an intermediate track.
“It’ll definitely be a good experience,” Lynn said. “The track seems pretty smooth and it’s definitely going to be fast. Testing is always a good prep for the race. It’ll be a great test to learn about what we have for the intermediate tracks with the new composite cars. Aerodynamically, it’s important to figure out the differences between the composite and steel bodied cars, so it’s going to be a big learning lesson.”
Alongside Baird and Lynn, Kyle Weatherman and Sheldon Creed will also be joining the team at Michigan to test. This will mark the first trip to Michigan for Creed and Weatherman.
About Lira Motorsport: Lira Motorsports is a multi-car, multi series race team owned by Carlos and Amanda Lira. The team competes in the ARCA Racing Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Whelen All- American Late Model, and IMSA Sportscar events nationwide. Lira Motorsports’ ARCA and NASCAR Truck programs are operated from an 18,000 square foot shop in Mooresville, North Carolina and the late model team operates from a 12,000 square foot facility in Port Orange, Florida, just minutes from Daytona International Speedway.
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