2026 General Tire 200
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 20 in the 2026 ARCA Menards Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | February 14, 2026 | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 84 laps, 210 mi (337.932 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 80 laps, 200 mi (321 km) | ||
| Average speed | 103.562 miles per hour (166.667 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Nitro Motorsports | ||
| Time | 49.133 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jake Finch | Nitro Motorsports | |
| Laps | 32 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Jack Wood | Pinnacle Racing Group | |
| Time | 48.435 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 18 | Gio Ruggiero | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FOX | ||
| Announcers | Eric Brennan, Phil Parsons, and Austin Cindric | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Alex Hayden and Mike Bagley | ||
| Turn announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2), Kyle Rickey (Backstretch), and Tim Catalfamo (3 & 4) | ||
The 2026 General Tire 200 was an ARCA Menards Series race held on Saturday, February 14, 2026, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 84 laps—extended from 80 laps due to an overtime finish on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season, and the 63rd running of the event.
After Jake Finch and Gus Dean, two of the dominant drivers in the race, were taken out of contention after an incident with two laps to go, Gio Ruggiero, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would control the lead on a one-lap shootout, and held off the rest of the field to earn his first career ARCA Menards Series win.[7] Jake Bollman finished second, and Kole Raz finished third. Daniel Dye and Glen Reen rounded out the top five, while Jack Wood, Jason Kitzmiller, Ryan Vargas, Bobby Dale Earnhardt, and Andy Jankowiak rounded out the top ten.
Report
Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[8] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[9] The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.[9]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Thursday, February 12, at 4:00 PM EST, and would last for 55 minutes.[10]
Jake Finch, driving for Nitro Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 48.878, and a speed of 184.132 miles per hour (296.332 km/h).[11]
Practice results
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | Jake Finch | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 48.878 | 184.132 |
| 2 | 25 | Gus Dean | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 48.879 | 184.128 |
| 3 | 70 | Thomas Annunziata | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 48.889 | 184.090 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, February 13, at 1:30 PM EST.[10] The qualifying procedure used is a multi-car, multi-lap group-based system. Drivers will be split into different groups of seven to eight drivers. Each group will have four minutes to set a lap time, and the driver who sets the overall fastest lap between the groups will win the pole. The fastest 34 drivers will lock in, with the final 6 spots being reserved for provisional starters.[12][13]
Gus Dean, driving for Nitro Motorsports, would score the pole for the race after setting the fastest time between the overall groups, with a lap of 49.133, and a speed of 183.176 miles per hour (294.793 km/h). Jake Bollman, who originally won the pole, was disqualified from his starting position after discovering a height violation during post-qualifying inspection.[14]
10 drivers would fail to qualify: Ron Vandermeir Jr., Logan Misuraca, Tony Cosentino, Andrew Patterson, Greg Van Alst, Nick White, Steve Lewis Jr., Robert Martin, Nolan Wilson, and Dale Shearer.
Qualifying results
Race
Race results
Laps: 84
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 18 | Gio Ruggiero | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 84 | 6 | Running | 47 |
| 2 | 39 | 20 | Jake Bollman (R) | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 84 | 0 | Running | 42 |
| 3 | 32 | 76 | Kole Raz | Rette Jones Racing | Ford | 84 | 0 | Running | 41 |
| 4 | 3 | 24 | Daniel Dye | SPS Racing | Ford | 84 | 20 | Running | 41 |
| 5 | 17 | 07 | Glen Reen | KLAS Motorsports | Ford | 84 | 0 | Running | 39 |
| 6 | 12 | 28 | Jack Wood | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 38 |
| 7 | 40 | 97 | Jason Kitzmiller | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 8 | 11 | 91 | Ryan Vargas | Maples Motorsports | Ford | 84 | 1 | Running | 37 |
| 9 | 7 | 89 | Bobby Dale Earnhardt | Rise Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 10 | 25 | 71 | Andy Jankowiak | KLAS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 11 | 5 | 30 | Garrett Mitchell | Rette Jones Racing | Ford | 84 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 12 | 34 | 99 | Michael Maples | Maples Motorsports | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 13 | 14 | 34 | Bryce Applegate | Mullins Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 31 |
| 14 | 13 | 88 | A. J. Moyer | Moyer–Petroniro Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 15 | 10 | 41 | Robbie Kennealy | Jan's Towing Racing | Ford | 84 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 16 | 35 | 12 | Takuma Koga | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 84 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 17 | 16 | 3 | Willie Mullins | Mullins Racing | Ford | 84 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 18 | 26 | 11 | Bryce Haugeberg | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 84 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 19 | 28 | 57 | Hunter Deshautelle | Brother-In-Law Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 20 | 18 | 15 | Jake Finch | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 84 | 32 | Running | 26 |
| 21 | 33 | 10 | Ed Pompa | Fast Track Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 22 | 19 | 7 | Eric Caudell | CCM Racing | Toyota | 84 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 23 | 15 | 27 | Tim Richmond | Tim Richmond Racing | Toyota | 84 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 24 | 27 | 32 | Charles Weslowski Jr. | Weslowski Racing | Chevrolet | 83 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 25 | 38 | 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorsports | Ford | 82 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 26 | 31 | 70 | Thomas Annunziata | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 82 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 27 | 21 | 9 | Presley Sorah | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 82 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 28 | 23 | 75 | Bryan Dauzat | Brother-In-Law Racing | Chevrolet | 80 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 29 | 1 | 25 | Gus Dean | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 79 | 15 | Accident | 17 |
| 30 | 24 | 77 | Taylor Reimer | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 31 | 35 | 06 | Con Nicolopoulos | Wayne Peterson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 78 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 32 | 29 | 93 | Caleb Costner | Costner Motorsports | Chevrolet | 72 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 33 | 4 | 8 | Sean Corr | Empire Racing | Chevrolet | 68 | 0 | Accident | 11 |
| 34 | 30 | 68 | Alli Owens | Kimmel Racing | Ford | 67 | 0 | Accident | 10 |
| 35 | 22 | 90 | Wesley Slimp | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 46 | 0 | Mechanical | 9 |
| 36 | 37 | 03 | Alex Clubb | Clubb Racing Inc. | Ford | 44 | 0 | Radiator | 8 |
| 37 | 2 | 55 | Isabella Robusto | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 42 | 10 | Clutch | 8 |
| 38 | 8 | 17 | Mini Tyrrell | Cook Racing Technologies | Chevrolet | 37 | 0 | Mechanical | 6 |
| 39 | 6 | 66 | Derek White | MBM Motorsports | Ford | 34 | 0 | Vibration | 5 |
| 40 | 20 | 36 | Ryan Huff | Ryan Huff Motorsports | Ford | 0 | 0 | Engine | 4 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 7 among 6 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 7 for 32 laps
- Red flags: 1
- Time of race: 2 hours, 1 minute and 40 seconds
- Average speed: 121.429 miles per hour (195.421 km/h)
Standings after the race
|
References
- ^ "ARCA Menards Series announces 2026 schedule; All 20 races to air live on FOX Sports". NASCAR. October 4, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
- ^ "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
- ^ "General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway". ARCA. November 24, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
- ^ "Entry list: General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway". ARCA. February 6, 2026. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
- ^ "Qualifying results: General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway". ARCA. February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ^ "Race results: General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway". ARCA. February 14, 2026. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ DeGroot, Nick (February 14, 2026). "Gio Ruggiero wins ARCA Daytona race after Nitro teammates wreck from lead". Motorsport.com. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
- ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group. Archived from the original on August 11, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- ^ a b "NASCAR Tracks — The Daytona International Speedway". Speedway Guide. Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
- ^ a b "Schedule of events: General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway". ARCA. December 2, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
- ^ "Practice results: General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway". ARCA. February 12, 2026. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
- ^ "The Daytona ARCA 200 qualifying format explained". ARCA. February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
- ^ White, Brandon (February 9, 2026). "PIT BOX: High banks of Daytona await ARCA Menards Series drivers for 2026 season-opener". ARCA. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
- ^ Calloni, Josh (February 13, 2026). "Gus Dean to Lead ARCA Field to Green at Daytona". Frontstretch.com. Retrieved February 13, 2026.