Venturini Motorsports paces Friday ARCA open test at Daytona

Leilani Munter (Venturini Motorsports, No. 55) led the way on the first day of testing for the ARCA Racing Series at Daytona International Speedway on Friday afternoon.

Munter turned a fast lap at 184.064 miles per hour while leading a pack of cars around the 2.5-mile tri-oval as she prepares to make her seventh ARCA Racing Series start at Daytona. Munter's teammate Christian Eckes (Venturini, No. 15) was second fastest in the draft at 184.023 miles per hour.

The two other Venturini teammates, Harrison Burton (Venturini, No. 20) and Michael Self (Venturini, No. 25) were third and fourth respectively. Todd Gilliland (DGR-Crosley Racing, No. 4) rounded out the top five.

The test session is designed to allow drivers to prepare for the season-opening Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona in just under a month. For other drivers, it's a chance to get approved for superspeedway racing or get valuable restrictor plate experience before their 18th birthday. Drivers are not allowed on the restrictor plate tracks until they turn 18.

Riley Herbst (Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 18) was sixth, Derrick Lancaster (On Point Motorsports, No. 29) was seventh, Bret Holmes (Bret Holmes Racing Chevrolet, No. 23) was eighth, Gus Dean (Win-Tron Racing, No. 23) was ninth, and Parker Kligerman (Chad Bryant Racing, No. 22) rounded out the top-10.

Most of the teams worked on single car runs throughout the morning and afternoon sessions, but the Venturini team dedicated considerable time to working in the draft. The Empire Racing teammates, Sean Corr and Thad Moffitt also spent time drafting with each other in the morning session.

Codie Rohrbaugh (Rohrbaugh Racing, No. 7) led the morning session with a single-car speed of 178.119 miles per hour. Gilliland was second, with Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 18) third at 177.786 miles per hour.
Teammate Riley Herbst was fourth and Burton was fifth.

There only incidents of the day involved Lancaster (oil leak) and Dave Mader III, who scuffed the outside wall and scraped the decals off the side of his car. A total of 31 cars were registered and on site, and 38 drivers made at least one lap.

Testing for the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire will continue tomorrow with the morning session running from 9 am through noon ET, and the afternoon session from 1 pm through 5 pm ET.

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