Michael Annett Victorious In ARCA 200 At Daytona

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2008) - ARCA RE/MAX Series rookie Michael Annett survived the "big one", then held off a rising star, a five-time Daytona winner and two former series champions for the final 32 laps to claim Saturday's ARCA 200 at Daytona International Speedway.

For the Des Moines, Iowa, driver, it was the biggest victory of his young career and his second straight on one of the largest tracks where ARCA's top series competes. Annett, who drove his Bill Davis-owned Toyota to a three-length victory over Justin Allgaier, won the ARCA race last fall at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.

"We didn't qualify where we wanted to qualify," said Annett, who started third. "We wanted the pole, but we knew we had a good car in the draft. The only two tracks I've raced at with Bill Davis was the restrictor-plate tracks and we won both of those, so I can't wait to see how I tackle these intermediate tracks. We're looking at doing about 10 to 12 ARCA races with Bill Davis Racing."

Allgaier's second-place finish marked his career best superspeedway effort in his family-owned Chevrolet. It also earned the Springfield, Ill., driver the Casite Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions.

"Towards the end we started moving up and old Bill [Baird] really pushed me up," Allgaier said. "We were just trying to get the best finish we could. If you look at the competition, there were some amazing cars here today. We qualified 30th and we felt like we had a better racing car than our qualifying car, but it was obviously a lot better than we thought."

Baird, the 1999 ARCA RE/MAX Series champion, finished third in a Ken Schrader-owned Dodge.

"It was a busy week," Baird said. "We qualified 17th and the second lap of final practice here we got taken out. We missed the crashes [in Saturday's race].

“I'm basically retired from racing, but that's why I still come back here; I still have the dream. We were hoping the field would break out at the end there, but there was just no one to do it with, so we settled for third."

Five-time Daytona champion Bobby Gerhart, the defending race winner, finished fourth in his Chevrolet.

"I missed it [the big wreck], but I was part of it," Gerhart said. "A couple of guys wrecked up there. We all bunched up and I just couldn't get stopped. I was a sitting duck with a big hole in the car, and it was pretty obvious after that. We put a little patch on it and I got right back in it. We'll be back next year and start the string all over again."

Nine-time series champion Frank Kimmel, after starting 43rd, finished fifth in his own Dodge.

"We didn't have a winning car, for sure, but to come out with a top five with that car today is like a win for us, for sure," Kimmel said. "It was a real important day, with Riverside Auto Parts, Prestolite Wire coming out. It's a pretty rewarding day when all your friends come out to help you."

At the onset, SIM Factory Pole Award winner Justin Marks swapped the lead with Formula One veteran Scott Speed for the first 23 laps before series rookie Tom Hessert took over the top spot on lap 24. Hessert led the next 21 circuits during which a multi-car wreck off turn four brought out the red flag while track officials cleaned the track.

The accident occurred on lap 30 when Kyle Krisiloff and Marks bounced off one another, triggering a multi-car pile-up that eliminated some key players, including Speed, Krisiloff, Kirk Shelmerdine, Mario Gosselin and Jack Bailey. There were no injuries, however, 13 cars were eliminated among the 16 cars involved.

When racing resumed, Hessert entered pit road for a scheduled pit stop, giving the lead to Gerhart, who led up through lap 48. However, Annett, clearly one of the quickest machines all day, charged to the front on lap 49 and never relinquished the lead. Despite a solid line of lead-lap cars behind him for the remainder of the race, Annett, with no drafting help, was able to pull away when necessary.

Hessert, making his career-first start, finished sixth in his Ford, earning the SunTrust Highest Finishing Rookie of the Race honors. Hendrick Motorsports rookie Landon Cassill finished seventh in a Chevrolet, while Dawayne Bryan took eighth, Brad Baker ninth and Dario Franchitti 10th.

The next event on the ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule is April 13 at Salem Speedway in Salem, Ind.

TOP-10 UNOFFICIAL ARCA RE/MAX SERIES POINTS AFTER ARCA 200

Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 9, 2008

1.Michael Annett 240
2.Justin Allgaier 220
3.Bill Baird 215
4.Bobby Gerhart 215
5.Frank Kimmel 205
6.Tom Hessert III 205
7.Landon Cassill 195
8.Dawayne Bryan 190
9.Brad Baker 185
10.Dario Franchitti 180

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Courtesy of ARCA