2012 Daytona 300

The 2012 Daytona 300 was the first race of the 2012 ARLA Elite Series season. It was held at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

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Pre-race storylines
Due to the tornado that struck the Dallas Speedpark shortly after the Rookie Shootout, the season-opening race was moved here. The Smash Beer 400, which was to have been the season opener, was rescheduled for the second weekend in June.

The Xenos cars carried special decals memorializing Scott Hamilton, who was killed at Brazil last season.

Marty Rite is this week's M-Pire Rent-A-Car "Drive The Dream" participant.

This race was Tom Delgado's first race since the heart attack he suffered in January of this year.

Race one
Starting on the pole in Race One was Ashley Tucker, following up her Rookie Shootout win. Fellow Riggs Motorsports driver Ricky Navarro completed the front row. Several drivers had problems in the early going, including Todd Stater, Patrick Henderson, and David Krikorian.

Tucker led for the first three laps before giving way to Kiriki Hetsuno – with an assist from the Team Burr cars of Derek Dudding and A.J. Young. Hetsuno's lead would be short-lived as Joseph Howard and Leslie Riggs both powered by her as she negotiated the lap car of Krikorian.

The first caution of the day flew on Lap 23 as Kodi Richards was turned by Lucas Sweeney, getting together with Allie Riggs in the process. Richards got the worst of the exchange, as his car was sent tail-first into the inside SAFER barrier.

During the ensuing pit stops, the cars of Leslie Riggs and Tiffany Matthews got together as Riggs was exiting her pit stall. Matthews, who was exiting pit road at the time, seemed to not see Riggs coming and made contact with her right front. Riggs would pit again to fix the damage; Matthews, however, did not.

On the restart, Laura Cyrus led coming out of the first turn, but she would be overtaken by Zachary Zins on the backstretch. Mac Rhylen would have a go at the lead a short time later. On Lap 29, the feared Big One paid a visit, set off by contact between Lucas Sweeney and Scott Morales. Morales went hard into the outside wall, and ended up going for a flip. Behind that, chaos ensued as several cars were collected while trying to get through the incident. Collected were Tucker, Allie Riggs, and Tom Delgado, among others. Makoto Yamada arguably got the worst of things, getting flipped by Michael Madrigal and sent for several rolls as a result. Yamada ended up on his roof. In total, thirteen cars ended up dropping out as a direct result of the wreck. Before the race restarted, Allie Riggs took her car down pit road – and would not return to competition.

Rhylen would lead the field back to the green flag, but his stay at the front would be short-lived as Gruell would have a go at the lead. During this green-flag run, both Holden Roberts and Ben Atkins made their presence felt, challenging for the lead.

Todd Wodarczyk and Drew Eisenman, who other drivers who were involved in the Lap 29 melee, made their presence felt as well – but for the wrong reasons as they held up the rest of the field. This allowed Gruell to put a small cushion between himself and the rest of the pack, and also allowed Gaffigan to get back into the lead pack and get past Gruell to lead a lap. The third caution of the day occurred on Lap 44 as Woodard and Gaffigan would get together coming out of Turn 3 into the tri-oval. Both cars were sent spinning, but neither hit anything. Gaffigan, for his part, did a masterful job saving his No. 37 Nemoto and kept going.

Gruell once again led on the restart, with Eric Jackson and Atkins in tow.

Meanwhile, Leslie Riggs, in one of her patented late-race charges, slowly made her way back toward the lead pack.

Gaffigan and Gruell would have a spirited battle for the lead in the latter stages of the race, which allowed some of the other contenders – including Howard and Riggs, among others – to make their presence felt.

What was shaping up to be a good fight was dampened some with eight laps to go. Eisenman's engine let go, bringing out the final caution of the event. This would set up a three-lap shootout to decide things.

On the restart, Gruell got a good start, but the rest of the pack caught right up. Howard decided to force the issue on the back stretch, dropping to the low line. Gaffigan followed his MRD Motorsports teammate to the low side, giving Howard the push he needed to (for the moment) grab the lead. Gaffigan decided to go three-wide with Gruell and Howard coming into Turn 3. Riggs elected to follow Howard, which ended up shuffling Gruell back to fourth. Howard led the lap, and would drag-race with Gaffigan on the outside line the entire lap.

The drag race continued as the white flag flew, with neither Howard nor Gaffigan seeming to give an inch. Gaffigan had a half-carlength advantage going down the backstretch, but he would bobble a little bit coming out of Turn 4 – giving Howard the opening he needed to pass his teammate and take the win.

Howard's victory ended an 11-year string where the season-opening race saw a first-time winner; the win was Howard's second of his career.

The top 10

 * For the complete results, click here.

Race two
Taylor Brillon started on the pole for the second race, with Harry S. Enola starting on her outside. Brillon received an early challenge from Enola's teammate Brenda Riggs, bringing Bobby Porteau, making his ARLA return for the Mitchell & Sons team, in tow. Porteau would get credit for leading the first lap, as he took the lead from Riggs coming out of Turn 4. Brillon would challenge for the lead on the start of Lap 2, but she had little help on the low side of the track, allowing Porteau to maintain the lead. Riggs would assume the lead a couple of laps later. The first caution of the day flew on Lap 10 as Bigsby Foote and Benji Flynn got together, sending both cars spinning. Vijay Pushanda got a piece of the incident, but other than that, no other cars were involved.

Defending series champion Kevin Monroe's engine let go coming to the caution, forcing him to drop out, and, more importantly, leaving Daytona with a big, fat zero in the points column. Porteau and Jason Teller also retired from the race on this caution, as terminal issues developed on their cars as well. Barton Sandy assumed the lead on the restart, with Herbie Finkleberg running in second. Sandy would not get to enjoy the lead for long, having been shuffled out a few laps later. He would also be involved in the second caution on Lap 18, as he, Bob Stephans, and Lawrence Burr got together coming out of Turn 4. Sandy went around, and Stephans scraped the wall in his Tonare Thunderbolt. Flynn was also involved in this, as he was sent around by Finkleberg. Behind this, Nick Howard and Jennifer Goodwin got together, with Howard getting up on two wheels before finally coming to a rest. None of the drivers involved in this incident would drop out of the race.

Tyson Lautenschlager was on the point when racing resumed, with Rip Tyler and Jim More in tow. Behind the pack, Enola also suffered an engine failure, making his car the third of the Saar contingent to have such a failure.

Brillon and Tyler got together a few laps later, as Kasie Campbell moved up the track, forcing Brillon into Tyler, and Tyler into the Turn 2 wall. This incident did not draw a caution, though both cars received fairly substantial damage. Tyler would have to pit for a flat tire, which also did internal damage. Tyler would drop out.

Also in this sequence, Chris Winter lost the engine on his No. 056 Lenard, making him the latest driver to experience issues with his motor.

On Lap 25, Lane Cranston and More got together coming out of Turn 4, bringing out the third caution of the race. More was sent for a spin, but did not hit anything and continued on.

Brenda Riggs led on the restart, with the "division by zero" car of Ebenezer Quiggles, Jr. running second. Riggs and Quiggles would break away from the rest of the pack for a few laps, leaving them to battle amongst themselves.

The fourth caution flew on Lap 32, as Cranston again made contact with another car, this time, the No. 20 of Darren Grant. Grant slid into Nami Mura, causing her to spin out and head nose-first into the outside retaining wall. Mura would drop out due to the damage, but Grant was able to get the car righted and continue on.

Riggs and Quiggles once again led the field to the green flag, and once again Howard would hold up the field, allowing the top two cars to again break away. Their cushion over the rest of the field didn't last, as Seiju Dejao joined the fray a few laps later. James West and Burr, two drivers who hadn't been near the front for most of the race, also joined in the battle.

The engine failure bug struck again on Lap 43 – this time, it was Riggs who was the unfortunate victim. Her engine let go just as she crossed the start/finish line, prompting the officials to throw yet another yellow. The bug wasn't done, however, claiming Quiggles as well while the cars were behind the pace vehicle.

This handed the lead to West, with Dejao restarting in second place. Once again, the slow car of Howard played a factor in the restart, as he impeded the progress of most of the field. This allowed West, Dejao, and Burr to form a three-car breakaway. The trio would race each other three-wide coming out of Turn 4, which allowed Lautenschlager, Pushanda, and Campbell to catch up.

But the engine issues weren't over yet. With ten laps to go, Burr's engine expires, dropping him from contention, making it a five-car battle for the top spot between Dejao, Lautenschlager, West, Campbell, and Andy Pearson, who had quietly made his way into this battle.

The battle quickly became one between Lautenschlager and Campbell, who traded the top spot between themselves for a few laps.

Any thoughts of a five-car battle to the end were dismissed as Scott Dalitz, who was involved in one of the earlier incidents, held up West and Lautenschlager, allowing Campbell and Pearson to get a little cushion on the other cars. The cushion didn't last long, as Pearson and Campbell decided to battle each other instead of forming up and opening up some room. This allowed Dejao and Lautenschlager to rejoin the battle.

Slow cars once again got involved in this battle, this time, it was Howard's car that would be the moving chicane on the backstretch. Of the five cars involved in the lead battle, only Pearson got held up. Campbell was able to get by Lautenschlager shortly thereafter. Campbell didn't look back, as she cruised to her first career win.

The top 10

 * For the complete results, click here.

Points

 * For the complete points standings, click here.

As this was the first race of the season, the points see a tie at the top of the standings between race one winner Joseph Howard and race 2 winner Kasie Campbell. Ashley Tucker is third, by virtue of her 25 bonus points from the Rookie Shootout as well as her pole win in race one. Leigh Gruell and Tyson Lautenschlager round out the top five.

Postrace penalties

 * None