Milka Duno
photo by Catchfence.com
Racing returns to ‘Dega! Talladega Super Speedway will swell with fans, workers, drivers and teams. It will become one of the largest cities in the state of Alabama over the course of several days. Racing gets underway Friday May 4th, with the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards which is celebrating its 60th Anniversary season.
CoverageTime: 5 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. Central).
TV: SPEED Channel
Radio: WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM of Alabama.
Feed: ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring coverage, as well as live audio coverage of the race from WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM of Alabama.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will kick off Talladega Aarons Dream Weekend with the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, May 4th. ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards officials were forced to cancel Thursday afternoon Menards Pole Qualifying session due to prior rain.
All 43 eligible teams will start the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250, and Matt Lofton, driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet for Coulter Motorsports, will start first in tomorrow's race. The team acquired the owner points of the No. 41 Chevrolet, last year's ARCA Racing Series champion. The previous year's owner points are used to set the field in instances where qualifying is cancelled in any of a season's first four races.
Locally, both teams from Hixson Motorsports in Soddy Daisy are in the field. The number 2 Realtor Ford Fusion driven by Thomas Praytor of Mobile, Ala., starts in the 16th spot and the number 28 Ford Fusion driven by Drew Charlson of New Bremen, Ohio starts in the 28th position.
Milka Duno returns to the drivers seat only days after she took a direct hit right in the driver’s door of her No. 6 Chevrolet during last week’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway on Sunday. Duno’s day ended on lap 39 after a dramatic full-speed broadside hit by the No. 82 car which was driven by Sean Corr.– an impact so severe that the car was completely destroyed in the process. Crew Chief Dave Leiner Jr. was able to speak with Duno on the radio immediately after the hit and knew right away that she was conscious. She was able to get out of the car on her own and walk away from the crash but is dealing with major bruising to her wrist and left side of her body. Even with a helmet on the hit was so hard that she chipped a tooth from contact inside the helmet.
“I’m really very upset and frustrated with what happened at Salem,” said Duno. “I race very competitively and very safely and yet this is not the first time that we’ve been caught up in action that we didn’t create or provoke. We started the sessions on Saturday and were doing exactly what we’re supposed to do – getting better in each session and then in qualifying, but then we lose four spots on the starting grid. It can be very discouraging. The hit was the hardest I’ve ever experienced and I’m bruised and sore.”
Duno rolls off in the 29th position in the number 6 Caracas Venezuela/ESR Chevrolet.
(Kent Whitaker is a national cookbook author and culinary writer with 10 published books. He is also member of, and, an AUXCHEF trainer for the United States Coast Guard Aux. He and his wife Ally live in East Tennessee with their son Macee and two spoiled dogs. Kent's books are available, or can be ordered at, any book store or online at www.thedeckchef.com . Look for Kent on twitter at www.twitter.com/thekentwhitaker . )
ARCA Starting GridSTR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR OWNER
1 16 Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC Strutmasters.com Chevrolet Joe Coulter
2 17 Chris Buescher/Prosper TX Roulo Brothers Racing Ford Russ Roulo
3 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Toyota Duke Thorson
4 25 Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX CJ Solar Band Chevrolet Cathy Venturini
5 99 Brandon Davis/Huntington Beach CA Roulo Brothers Racing Ford Gary Roulo
6 1 Mikey Kile/Westlake LA ModSpace Ford Jennifer Belmont
7 52 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Federated Auto Parts Toyota Ken Schrader
8 31 Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL Wayne Peterson Racing Ford Wayne Peterson
9 58 Chad Hackenbracht/Cornelius NC Tastee Apple Chevrolet Greg Hackenbracht
10 32 Brandon McReynolds/Mooresville NC Win Tron-Turner Motorsports Chevrolet Kevin Cywinski
11 15 Ryan Reed/Bakersfield CA JDRF Chevrolet Bill Venturini
12 82 Sean Corr/Goshen NY Empire Racing Ford John Corr
13 23 Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV Allegiant Air Chevrolet TJ Clark
14 55 Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN Curb Records Toyota Mike Curb
15 10 Bill Coffey/Danbury CT Fast Track Driving School-Rockingham Chevrolet Andy Hillenburg
16 2 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL Realtor Ford Wayne Hixson
17 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Spirit Of Henryville Chevrolet Darrell Basham
18 48 James Hylton/Inman SC Radon.com Ford James Hylton
19 68 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN Tilted Kilt Ford Bill Kimmel
20 02 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL South West Florida Cable Construction Ford Theresa Williams
21 18 Tyler Speer/Woodstock GA Fast Track Driving School-Rockingham Chevrolet Dave McClure
22 06 Tommy O'Leary/Cygnet OH Wayne Peterson Racing Ford Wayne Peterson
23 35 Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela Venezuela Tourism Toyota Bill Venturini
24 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet Bill Gerhart
25 04 Larry Barford Jr./Denton MD First Mariner Bank-Trauma Doc Dodge Roger Carter
26 22 Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Dodge Kerry Scherer
27 94 Steve Blackburn/Prestonburg KY Pops Chevrolet-Harley Davidson Pikeville Chevrolet Darrell Basham
28 28 Drew Charlson/New Bremen OH Aluma Aluminum Trailers-Heitcamp Insurance Ford Wayne Hixson
29 6 Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela ESR Chevrolet Jessica Sharp
30 7 George Cushman/Waterville NY Vukelda Law Attorney-AIP-Beveridge Medical Dodge Bill Gerhart
31 61 Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL RipIt Energy Fuel-Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet Joe Coulter
32 11 Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY Hudson Performance Drivelines Dodge Andy Hillenburg
33 66 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air Toyota Cathy Venturini
34 08 Clay Campbell/Martinsville VA Mountain Dew Ford Jeff Spraker
35 40 Greg Hutto Jr./Grand Bay AL Affordable Auto Glass-Suncoast Auto Sales Dodge Roger Carter
36 90 Zach Ralston/Springville IA ORingSales.com Ford Doug Stringer
37 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg ON Jones Group Dodge Terry Jones
38 88 Buster Graham/Lafayette LA Batters Dream-RoushYatesParts.com Ford Howard Bixman
39 76 John Ferrier/Middletown NY Mosquito Patch-St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Chevy John Ferrier
40 78 Aleks Gregory/Baton Rouge LA TheMosquitoPatch.us Ford Aleks Gregory
41 67 Roger Carter/Charlotte NC Ron Paul Dodge Dana Carter
42 97 Donnie Neuenberger/Edgewater MD Carter Racing Chevrolet Dana Carter
43 83 Mike Affarano/Shorewood IL North Grand Auto Parts Chevrolet Mike Affarano
Matt Lofton
photo by ARCA Racing