Harrison Burton Wins ARCA Menards Series Lucas Oil 200

Harrison Burton
Harrison Burton

Harrison Burton (No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota) drove to victory in Saturday's ARCA Menards Series Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway. It was Burton's first start of any type at Daytona.

"It means so much to come here and win at a track my dad won at before me," Burton said. "I can't thank my guys at Venturini Motorsports enough, they busted their butts on this car for the last month to get it so we can come here and compete to win.

"We had some debris on the grille over the last run and I think it actually helped. The temperatures went up but they weren't too high. I got the jump on the restart and I knew Todd was on a run. We were up high next to the wall and I looked up and saw no one had a run. I knew that any time something bad could happen, and I was just waiting for it. It never did and then when I crossed the line I started screaming my head off."

Burton held off Todd Gilliland (No. 4 Frontline Enterprises Toyota) on a one-lap overtime dash to the checkered.

"I could go wherever I wanted with this car," Gilliland said. "No matter what line I was in, we could go to the front and help the whole line. It was a shame I couldn't get up there and beat my Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate for the win, but we learned a lot for next week.

Gilliland planned on riding at the back in the early stages of the race then charging to the front at the end. He was able to team up with Brandon McReynolds (No. 28 US Work Boats Toyota) but McReyolds was involved in a crash that sent the race into overtime. From there, it was a one lap dash to the finish, and Gilliland tried to outduel Burton, but couldn't make it stick on the final lap around.

"There's still a lot to be learned," Gilliland said. "I think I learned a lot for next week. It would have been great to get up there and race Harrison tonight but I think what I learned will be a huge help when we get back here in the Truck next week."

Grant Quinlan (No. 30 Jones Demolition & Abatement Ford) finished third. Quinlan's team owner, Terry Jones, finished second here in 2017, and Quinlan, a former ARCA/CRA Super Series late model champion also capitalized in a rare superspeedway start.

"I don't do a lot of superspeedway racing," he said. "It's a lot different than what I am used to. We hooked up with Todd (Gilliland) and went to the front late in the race. We had some debris on the grille and had to make a second pit stop but thankfully he was back there too and we could work our way up to the front together."

Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota), the General Tire Pole Award winner, lined up second on the final restart and ended up fourth.

"I thought we had a little bit better car than Harrison did but that's speedway racing," Eckes said. "We just weren't in the right line on the restart. As far as the points are concerned it was a good day. It would have been good to win here but we're happy to get a good start on the championship."

There were five cautions for incidents which consumed 30 laps, the final one of which sent the race into overtime. The first accident of the night involved defending race winner Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) and last year's runner-up finisher Willie Mullins (No. 3 County Waste Systems Ford) tangled on the back stretch, cutting their day short.

Other incidents involved Eric Caudell (No. 2 Caudell Consulting & Marketing Ford), Thad Moffitt (No. 46 Performance Plus Oil Chevrolet), Paul Williamson (No. 36 Vizion Motorsports Toyota), J.J. Pack (No. 61 IceBoxx Customs Toyota), Brandon McReynolds, and Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet). There were no injuries in any of the incidents.

Burton led three times for 48 laps. Other leaders included Eckes, who led 9 laps from pole, Gus Dean (No. 32 CAB Installers Chevrolet), who led 29 laps. There were five lead changes among three drivers.

The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is the ARCA Pensacola 200 at Five Flags Speedway, scheduled for Saturday, March 9. The race will be live on MAVTV at 8 pm ET; ARCARacing.com will have live timing & scoring, live chat, and live track updates free for registered users.

Results

FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS
1 5 20 Harrison Burton/Huntersville NC DEX Imaging Toyota 86 Running
2 18 4 Todd Gilliland/Mooresville NC Frontline Enterprises Toyota 86 Running
3 25 30 Grant Quinlan/Maidstone Ontario Jones Demolition and Abatement Ford 86 Running
4 1 15 Christian Eckes/Middletown NY JBL Audio Toyota 86 Running
5 22 43 Sean Corr/Goshen NY Nesco Chevrolet 86 Running
6 7 54 Natalie Decker/Eagle River WI N29 Technologies Toyota 86 Running
7 15 7 Codie Rohrbaugh/Petersburg WV Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 86 Running
8 8 27 Travis Braden/Wheeling WV MatrixCare-Consonus Healthcare-Liberty Vlg Ford 86 Running
9 9 02 Andy Seuss/Hampstead NH Robert B. Our Company Chevrolet 86 Running
10 17 18 Riley Herbst/Las Vegas NV Monster-Terrible Herbst-Orca-Advance Toyota 86 Running
11 10 22 Connor Hall/Hampton VA Marlow Yachts Ford 86 Running
12 12 52 Tyler Dippel/Wallkill NY Ken Schrader Racing Ford 86 Running
13 24 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 86 Running
14 33 1 Chuck Heirs/Jacksonville FL Ashley Homes-Gleckler Lumber Toyota 86 Running
15 3 55 Leilani Munter/Rochester MN What the Health Toyota 86 Running
16 31 11 Jason White/Sunpeaks BC Powder Ventures Excavating Chevrolet 86 Running
17 26 29 Derrick Lancaster/Christiansburg VA Total Car & Truck Service-GRM Erectors Toyota 86 Running
18 14 23 Bret Holmes/Munford AL Bret Holmes Racing Chevrolet 85 Accident
19 34 48 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Copraya.com Chevrolet 85 Running
20 27 63 Dave Mader III/Irvington AL Diamond C Ranch-American Apparel Ford 84 Suspension
21 20 77 Joe Graf Jr./Mahwah NJ Chad Bryant Racing Ford 83 Running
22 35 06 Con Nicolopolous/Columbus MI GreatRailings.com Chevrolet 83 Running
23 30 10 Tommy Vigh Jr./Parsippany NJ Extreme Energy Cleaner Ford 82 Running
24 13 09 CJ McLaughlin/Framingham MA Robert B. Our Company Chevrolet 79 Running
25 11 28 Brandon McReynolds/Mooresville NC KBR Development Toyota 78 Accident
26 16 32 Gus Dean/Bluffton SC CAB Installers-Baker Distributing-LGHVAC Chevy 78 Accident
27 2 46 Thad Moffitt/Trinity NC Performance Plus Oil Chevrolet 70 Accident
28 29 61 J.J. Pack/Haymarket VA Iceboxx Customs Toyota 50 Accident
29 19 35 Brenden Queen/Chesapeake VA Vizion Motorsports Toyota 49 Accident
30 23 36 Paul Williamson/Kenansville NC Vizion Motorsports Toyota 48 Running
31 6 25 Michael Self/Salt Lake City UT Sinclair Oil Toyota 48 Accident
32 28 69 Scott Melton/Rockford MI Melton McFadden Insurance Agency Ford 45 Brakes
33 32 2 Eric Caudell/Piedmont OK Caudell Consulting & Marketing Ford 40 Accident
34 21 44 John Ferrier/Middletown NY Grumpy's Performance Chevrolet 35 Clutch
35 4 3 Willie Mullins/Fredericksburg VA County Waste-Crow Wing Recycling Ford 3 Accident

General Tire Pole Award: Christian Eckes – 49.180 (183.001 mph)
Margin of Victory: 0.112 seconds Cautions: 5 for 30 laps
Time of Race: 1:41:51 Average Speed: 126.655 mph
Lap Leaders: Christian Eckes 1-9 (9); Harrison Burton 10-13, 15, 44-86 (48); Gus Dean 14, 16-43 (29)
Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader: Gus Dean
Fastest Lap of the Race: Todd Gilliland – 48.445 (185.778 mph)