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Van Alst tops journeymen, young guns in hard-fought ARCA opener

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — Journeymen and young guns battled through several cautions and various calamity to race for the win in the 2023 ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona.

In the end, Greg Van Alst emerged the winner over Connor Mosack after making a final-lap move on Canadian Jason White to earn his first career ARCA win.

“This one is for the short track guys who never made it. I worked my ass for this and we won at Daytona!” Van Alst said, excitedly, on the frontstretch.

Other drivers weren’t as cheerful, like Van Alst who upset White.

“That last lap is one I’ll be walking through my head forever. They hung me out to dry. I’ve been on the simulator a thousand times and that’s never happened. My spotter said back it down, back it down, back it up and I felt the wind slow down. I could’ve gone up to block but I didn’t want to cause a big wreck,” White said after finishing ninth.

White said he worked well with Van Alst, at least until the final lap. Still, he had a fast car that we may see again.

“Jeff McClure and the guys worked hard. This car was ready for three weeks and they were still working on it for five hours every night. He’s a mad scientist and he’s got it going on,” White reflected. “I hope to run this again at Talladega in April.”

VIDEO: Canadian Jason White talks coming up short in ARCA opener at Daytona

Taking his place near Van Alst in the ultimate finish was Connor Mosack, who nabbed second.

“We had a good start there leading the map and hoping we could wrap the yellow line and hold the lead. Then, the 97 passed us and we got in traffic and we got shuffled around, got spun.We didn’t hit anything and came back P2, wish we had one more lap,” Mosack said.

VIDEO: Connor Mosack on 2nd-place ARCA run at Daytona

Mosack raced with Dale Quarterley, who was up front multiple times throughout the race. Quarterley described the car as “killer” with help from Chad Bryant, a familiar face in the ARCA garage.

“It didn’t seem like it had any weaknesses but I made a couple of stupid moves at the beginning and lost some spots then said, ‘Okay I gotta let the car do the work,’ just started floating between lanes and got to 8th, started overheating. We tore off some tape and drove back up to 3rd.”

Quarterley was turned on the frontstretch but then drove from 23rd to 10th on the final lap.

“It was a good day, the sponsor got airtime, everybody was happy.”

But not everyone was happy with Quarterley.

“I didn’t really like working with Dale Quarterley too much, he’s the one who wrecked me. He was shoving a little too hard a little too early but it’s alright,” Mosack said.

“I was yelling in the radio early on but the 4, he was literally just plowing into us. We were so squirrel-y, we almost wrecked like 10 times, I know he wrecked like 3 other guys,” Muniz said.

Still, Quarterley remains a veteran of the sport and sees Daytona as “just an 8-hour drive” he has done since 1973.

“It’s a blast. It’s stuff you can’t find in the normal world,” he reflected.

FULL RESULTS

FinishStartCarDriverTeamLapsStatus
1735Greg Van Alst *Vern’s Concrete/CB Fabricating/Sam Pierce Chevy80Running
2118Connor Mosack *Mobil1 Toyota80Running
3398Sean CorrThe Trans Group Chevrolet80Running
4112Lavar Scott *Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet80Running
52574Mandy Chick *Rose Hulman Institute of Technology Chevrolet80Running
63515Amber Balcaen *ICON Direct  Toyota80Running
7220Jesse LoveYahoo Toyota80Running
8366Jack Wood *WB/Velocity Racing/Max Siegal Inc. Chevrolet80Running
91944Jason WhitePowder Ventures Excavating Chevrolet80Running
10154Dale QuarterleyVan Dyk Recycling Solution/Motul/Walker Furn80Running
111630Frankie Muniz *Hair Club/Ford Performace Ford80Running
121332Christian Rose *West Virgina Tourism #AlmostHeaven Ford80Running
132462Steve Lewis, Jr *Telco Construction/Jeffery Machine Chevrolet80Running
141753Natalie DeckerSPLAT Ford80Running
152845Tony Cosentino *BYB Extreme Chevrolet80Running
161411Bryce Haugeberg *Magnum Contracting/Haugeberg Farms Toyota80Running
17642Robby LyonsSun West Construction/MMI Services Chevrolet80Running
18963Logan Misuraca *CELSIUS Chevrolet80Running
19397Jason KitzmillerA.L.L. Construction Inc Chevrolet80Ruru
20213Willie MullinsCorvetteParts.net/Crow Wing Recycling Chevrolet80Running
212775Bryan DauzatBrother-In-Law Motorsports Chevrolet80Running
223010Ed PompaHytorc of New York/Double H Ranch Chevrolet80Running
231255Toni Breidinger *FP Movement Toyota80Running
243493Caleb Costner *Innovative Tiny Houses/Lickety Lew’s Chevrolet80Running
252366Jon GarrettThe Camping Crew Chevrolet80Running
263768Gage Rogers *SEKISUI Voltek Ford80Running
272003Brayton Laster *Indy Auto Recyclers/Autorepairvinstickers.com Ford80Running
282987Chuck Buchanan Jr.Spring Drug Pharmacy Chevrolet80Running
293206A.J. Moyer *River’s Edge Cottages & RV Park Chevrolet79Running
303348Brad SmithCopraya.com Chevrolet74Running
313802Miguel Gomes *Smiththunder Chevrolet69Running
32573Andy Jankowiak *Whelen Ford62Accident
333112Zach Herrin *Lambda Legal Toyota62Running
34267Eric CaudellBellator Cyber Guard/Red Tide Canopies/Cobel43Engine
351025Gus DeanJBL/Dean Custom Air Toyota33Fuel Line
361827Tim RichmondLatino Immigration and Legal Center Toyota30Accident
37436Ryan Huff *Southeastern Services Ford16Clutch
38869Scott MeltonMelton McFadden Ins/Donna’s Donuts Ford11Accident
392257Hunter DeshautelleBrother-In-Law Motorsports Chevrolet3Radiator
404001Andres Perez de Lara *FastTrackRacing.com Chevrolet80DNS
Courtesy: ARCA Racing

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