James Buescher Wins ARCA Opener at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH FL (2-7-09)-One of the best ways to avoid the "big one" at
Daytona is to stay out front. That's exactly what 18-year-old James
Buescher did most of the way to win the wild ARCA RE/MAX Series Lucas Oil
Slick Mist 200 Saturday afternoon at Daytona Int'l Speedway.

Buescher, who led the final 44 laps in the Kevin Cywinski-owned Wolfpack
Toyota, held off NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Joey Logano in a one-lap
shoot-out to earn the biggest victory of his career.

"We'd been getting pretty good restarts all night," said Buescher. "Just
pulling away from the pack, the car was pretty good and I knew Joey
[Logano] was going to try to get me in turn three because that is what he
had been trying to do all night. I told my spotter not to be quiet the
entire last lap and he didn't, so he really helped me through it. Daytona
is on top of everyone's list so this means a lot."

Buescher, who started from the tail-end because of unapproved adjustments,
also steered his way through several multi-car wrecks en route to the
front.

"Starting from the back, we did what we had to do to get there. These guys
on this crew rebuilt the whole suspension last night. ARCA didn't like
what we had under there, but I think it made the car faster anyway."

In all, there were six cautions for 47 laps that eliminated a wide variety
of contenders including defending winner Michael Annett, Matt Carter, 1999
series champion Bill Baird and Tom Hessert to name a few.

The race was also red flagged for 19 minutes during the final caution,
which involved Patrick Sheltra, Larry Hollenbeck and Frank Kimmel. Both
Sheltra and Hollenbeck were transported, conscious and alert, to a local
hospital for further evaluation while Kimmel finished the race in 11th,
the last car on the lead lap.

Bobby Gerhart, following a one-car incident, was also transported,
conscious and alert, to a local hospital. Gerhart was evaluated and
released.

Logano, in the Venturini Motorsports Toyota, finished second, one length
away from Buescher.

Justin Lofton, who earned the Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell on
Friday, finished third after leading the first 35 laps in the Lofton
Cattle Toyota.

"I was hoping for the 09 car [John Wes Townley] to be a little stronger
behind me to give me some momentum and help push me past Joey [Logano],"
Lofton said.

John Wes Townley, in the Zaxby's Ford, finished fourth in a back-up car
with Ken Weaver, in the 1-800-4-A-Phone/Tricolor Dodge, finishing fifth.
Weaver, making his series return after a two-year hiatus, also earned the
CGS Imaging Hard Charger Award for advancing the most positions.

Ed Kennedy, in the Thunder 2-Daytona Lagoon Chevrolet, earned a
career-best sixth place finish as did rookies' Parker Kligerman and Tim
George, Jr., who finished seventh and eighth respectively. George also
earned the Highest Finishing Rookie Award. Under-funded independents'
Darrell Basham and Norm Benning finished ninth and tenth.

The event served as a prelude to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Budweiser
Shootout.

Buescher also earned the Aaron's Lap Leader Award for leading the most laps.

On Tuesday, race fans can ask Buescher about the 2009 Lucas Oil Slick Mist
200 via a live audio chat on arcaracing.com. The segment, titled 30 at 30,
will debut on Tuesday, February 10th at 3:30 p.m. ET on arcaracing.com.

The next event on the ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule is at Salem Speedway in
Salem, Indiana on Sunday, April 5th. For more information on the ARCA
RE/MAX Series, visit www.arcaracing.com.

TOP-10 UNOFFICIAL ARCA RE/MAX SERIES POINTS AFTER THE LUCAS OIL SLICK MIST
200 AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (2-7-09):  1) James Buescher 235; 1)
Justin Lofton 235; 3) Joey Logano 225; 4) John Wes Townley 210; 5) Ken
Weaver 205; 6) Ed Kennedy 200; 7) Parker Kligerman 195; 8) Tim George, Jr.
190; 9) Darrell Basham 185; 10) Norm Benning 180.

Last Updated on 02/08/09
By George Campbell or Greg Fish
Email: neracing@neracing.com