Immediately following a frantic Truck race that ended in carnage, the ARCA race appeared to follow a similar theme, unfortunately.
Willie Mullins lead the field to the green flag, but just four laps into the event, a multi-car crash eliminated several notable drivers. Among them were Toni Breidinger, who took issue with her teammate afterwards. Another driver collected was Shane van Gisbergen, who was making his first start on the Daytona oval.
That was to be the first of many incidents in the late-night race, which was moved up a day due to expected rain showers on Saturday.
Jake Finch spent a lot of time out front, and was leading at the halfway point when a wreck broke out in the mid-field.
With 18 laps to go, there was a significant incident exiting Turn 4. It began with Michael Maples and Scott Melton, and pole-sitter Mullins plowed into it. All walked away from the violent wreck. Van Gisbergen, now 25 laps down, spun down the pitlane to avoid it.
The race got single-file after that, and it seemed as if we were in for a calm finish. However, Marco Andretti crashed and his car then burst into flames, forcing the race into overtime.
The Venturini teammates of Gus Dean and Finch were on the front row, but there were no team orders like previous restarts. They raced it out. Andy Jankowiak restarted behind them, and dramatically told the Fox Sports 1 booth that he wouldn't lift until he saw "God or the checkered flag."
Well, he pushed Finch aggressively down the backstretch, and the young driver lost control. A massive crash ensued, with Andres Perez's car ending up on top of Jankowiak's.
A massive crash on the last lap ends the @DAYTONA ARCA 200 in overtime. @gusdean gets his third ARCA Menards Series win!
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) February 17, 2024
All drivers involved in the crash climbed out of their cars. pic.twitter.com/fDk23e1Ae8
The caution flag flew and Dean was the winner, collecting his third career ARCA victory and his first since 2018. Dean's triumph also helped Venturini reach an important milestone, as it was the team's 100th win.
Dean was was racing in memory of his grandfather, and mentioned him in his post-race comments.
"I started racing when I was four years old at a tiny little dirt track in South Georgia," he told FS1. "It's been a whole lot of miles, a whole lot of work, and a whole lot of people behind me. My granddad came to every race I ever ran, and every single one of them he would tell me to get what I can.
"Tonight, we got what we could and it might not be the 500, it might not be the biggest race, but it is the biggest coliseum. And for a small town kid from Bluffton, South Carolina, this is everything."
