Move to Chevrolet Helps Steve Blackburn Lead Practice at Daytona

Series PR

(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.) – A manufacturer switch may be just what Steve Blackburn needs to contend in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. If Thursday’s practice chart from Daytona International Speedway is any indication, Blackburn and his self-owned team are on the right track.

The 49-year-old from Prestonburg, Ky. drove a best lap of 47.712 seconds (188.632 mph) in a four-hour practice session to top Venturini Motorsports teammates Mark Thompson and Nelson Canache Jr., Tom Hessert of Ken Schrader Racing, and Venturini’s Brennan Poole.

In his eight previous starts since 2005 and both previous Daytona races, Blackburn had driven Dodges but never finished in the top 10 of any event. His new relationship with Richard Childress Racing executive Mike Dillon – father of last season’s ARCA champion Ty – and ECR Engines, however, may have turned the tide, giving his No. 94 Chevrolet a necessary boost.

“I called him back at the first of summer and never got in with him,” Blackburn said of Dillon. “I begged, pleaded, and told him I’d give him my next born for some horsepower, some Chevrolet power. They’ve let me in, I’ve joined the family, and I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Sponsored by Harley Davidson Pikeville (Ky.) and Pop’s Chevrolet, Blackburn can enter Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell on Friday with plenty of positive thoughts after 24 laps of practice.

“It was a pretty good day,” he said. “I’m just tickled to death.”

Thompson, who drove 39 laps, finished the session at 48.164 seconds (186.862 mph) to lead a usually strong Venturini effort. Canache finished only 0.012 second behind his teammate in preparation for his ARCA debut, posting a speed of 186.815 mph on his best of 24 laps.

Nine-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel ended the practice session sixth; his entry this weekend represents his first ARCA activity with ThorSport Racing, which is adding a full ARCA schedule this season to its 16-year history of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing. Kimmel has started 20 ARCA races at Daytona and finished second twice, but has never won.

Venturini drivers Ryan Reed and Paulie Harraka finished the session seventh and eighth, just ahead of Alex Kennedy and Sean Corr.

Seven-time and defending Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart ended practice 12th on the speed chart. Last season’s Daytona and season runner-up Chris Buescher was 14th.

In all, 52 cars recorded official practice laps in four hours of practice. 43 will start in Saturday’s Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, scheduled to air at 4:30 p.m. on SPEED. The starting field will be set tomorrow in Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell, which will begin at 2 p.m. ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring coverage of qualifying and the race.

2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series will visit Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time; ARCA’s first visit to Minnesota will give ARCA a race in a 29th state.

Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.