Gerhart Unable to Make it Four in a Row; Settles for Fourth
Lebanon, Pennsylvaniaís Bobby Gerhart, a five time ARCA 200 at Daytona winner, headed into this yearís event hoping to earn his fourth consecutive Daytona victory. However, the series veteran became one of 16 drivers involved in a lap 30 incident that brought out the red flag for more than 14 minutes on Saturday.

"I missed it (the big wreck), but I was part of it,î said Gerhart. ìA couple of guys wrecked up there, we all bunched up and I just couldn't get stopped. It was what it was. Exciting race, no doubt about it. 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. Great car. We'll be back next year and start the string all over again."

Gerhart is the 2007, 2006, 2005, 2002 and 1999 ARCA 200 at Daytona race winner. In addition, he has four pole awards at the track. Other cars involved in the multi-car incident included Brian Scott (No. 75 IWX-Strutmaster.com Chevrolet), Kyle Krisiloff (No. 7 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet) and Scott Speed (No. 2 Red Bull Toyota), who were examined and released from the infield care center.

John Wes Townley (No. 09 Zaxbyís-SPS Ford), Bryan Silas (No. 11 Nortrax-ICI Homes Ford), Justin Marks (No. 65 Voodoo Ride Toyota), Mario Gosselin (No. 21 James Carter Attorney at Law Chevrolet), Matt Carter (No. 46 Fort Dodge Animal Health-Hantz Group-Nu South Lemonade Ford), Dominick Casola (No. 32 A. Casola Farms Dodge), Tayler Malsam (No. 4 Dodge Motorsports-Cunningham Motorsports Dodge), Kirk Shelmerdine (No. 27 Wabash Motorsports-Lilly Trucking Chevrolet), Ken Butler, III (No. 22 Aaronís Toyota), Terry Jones (No. 30 Jones Group Dodge), Jack Bailey (No. 19 Eddie DíHondt Racing Toyota), Nur Ali (No. 45 Tara Energy Group Dodge) and Frank Kimmel (No. 44 Prestolite Wire Dodge), each received varying degrees of damage in the incident, although many teams were able to make repairs to their cars, stay on the lead lap and finish the 80-lap event.

Allgaier Earns Casite Hard Charger Honors
Justin Allgaier raced from his 30th place starting position to second to advance the most positions, earning Casite Hard Charger of the Race honors at Daytona. The finish also marked the series veteranís career best speedway finish, besting previous finishes of fourth at Gateway Intíl Raceway in 2007 and Kentucky Speedway in 2006. However, Allgaier was not the only series veteran who finished in the top-five after starting the race from deep in the field. Third place finisher and 1999 series champion Bill Baird qualified 17th but started the ARCA 200 from the tail end of the field after reverting to a backup car when he wrecked his primary during final practice. Defending series champion Frank Kimmel finished fifth after starting the race 43rd, using a past championís provisional.

Hessert III Finishes Sixth; Earns SunTrust Rookie of the Race Honors
Cherry Hill, New Jerseyís Tom Hessert, III, in the No. 1 Maaco Auto Painting Ford, led 21 laps during Saturday's ARCA 200 at Daytona to earn SunTrust Rookie of the Race honors.

"It was good to be up there in the lead for a little bit,î said Hessert. ìIt was a double-edged sword, because we hadn't pitted yet. Typically, there are some wrecks here, so I figured if we could pit later and take our tires then, we'd be better. We just couldn't get quite the help we needed to make our move at the end. It's great, though. To come home sixth isn't bad."

Hessert plans to compete in all 21 ARCA RE/MAX Series races in 2008 for series car owner Andy Belmont.

Daytona in the Rear View Mirror: Series Focuses on Short Track Racing
With the ARCA RE/MAX Series season opener at Daytona complete, the ARCA RE/MAX Series, now in its 56th consecutive year of competition, is ready for the first short track event of the season, the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana on April 13th. The race marks the seriesí 80th appearance to the high-banked, .5-mile track.