(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – January 17, 2015) – The new ARCA Racing Series composite body took its first laps on a superspeedway Friday afternoon at Daytona Int’l Speedway during the ARCA-sanctioned open test, all part of a process leading toward eligibility of the body on tracks over a mile in length.
Will Kimmel, the only driver who tested the composite body, was eighth fastest (186.765 mph) in the No. 69 Kimmel Racing Ford Fusion among 38 cars that tested.
“Everything went really good,” Kimmel said. “The new Five Star body performed great…no loose ends, nothing moving in the draft. Overall, I’m really happy with it. I think ARCA’s going to do really well with this car. We had to make some changes to the car to get it to run faster when you’re carrying that much body, but it responded to all our changes and went fast. I was pleasantly surprised. Very stable.”
Officials from ARCA, NASCAR and Five Star Race Car Bodies were on location for Friday’s test at Daytona gathering data.
“This is all part of the research and development regarding the introduction of the ARCA Racing Series composite body being able to compete on tracks over a mile in length in the future,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “We’re observing the overall process and performance of the car and how it adapts to the high speeds.”
The ARCA Racing Series composite body is already eligible to compete on ARCA tracks a mile in length or less, beginning with its expected debut at Mobile Int’l Speedway in the ARCA Mobile 200 March 14.
ARCA Racing Series teams will have the option at short track venues in 2015 to compete with showroom stock-appearing Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion and Chevrolet SS body packages, constructed with state of the art, composite laminate blend materials engineered to be lightweight and durable, and to resist deflection at high speeds. The complete body is comprised of 12 flange-fit modular panels, for ease of installation and quick replacement, and weighs less than 135 pounds.
The composite body project is part of an overall cost containment initiative for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
@DonRadebaugh
dradebaugh@arcaracing.com
dradebaugh@arcaracing.com