The Daytona 200 is behind us now and we are on the road again headed back to Mooresville to finish up our intermediate car. We had a good car for testing and then we brought an even better car for the race. Daytona was both good and bad for us. We were "Double Crossed" by an engine builder. The engine was not ready Friday afternoon and he informed us he needed to order parts. All of that didn't work out, but, it was probably for the best. We got on the phone and called a few people about buying an engine. We had people from our sponsor, All Sports Armour, coming and some other interested sponsors coming, so, I thought about what I needed to do to run good. It's pretty simple. When you thinking of speedway racing and ARCA you think of Bobby Gerhart Racing.

We got on the phone and talked to Billy first, then, I called Bobby back after he got off the chassis dyno and made a deal to lease one of his engines for the race, so, we came to Daytona without an engine in the car. We had a day and a half of inspection and I hate to leave the shop without the car being completely ready, waxed, polished and ready to go to inspection, but, that was the best we could do in that situation. Bobby and Jeff Collins gave me a heads up on how to plumb the car to accept the engine, so, we had as much of that done as we could before we got there. Bert Oostlander, the team owner, stepped up and leased the engine for us because he wanted us to run good. When we got there we put the engine in the car, which took awhile, and that took away from inspection time. We were about an hour later getting to inspection and getting through than we should have been, but, I knew it would be worth it to run a Gerhart engine.

We went out to practice and made sure that we didn't make any drafting runs because I didn't want to fool myself. We were almost as fast with the new laser cut plate as we were with the old restrictor plate that we used to run. The old restrictor plates we used to run up until this race were punched out with a punch press and they were not as consistent. In other words, you might find a 5 or 6 horsepower difference between each restrictor plate and that means a lot of speed on the racetrack. To make the playing field more equal, they came out with this new laser cut, red anodized restrictor plate where they're all equal. They're all the same. This way you don't have to worry about getting a bad plate going through inspection. They are red anodized, so, if some of the teams get creative and try to doctor them up and sand on them to open them up, the red anodize goes away and the aluminum is exposed so you can see it. Unfortunately there were a couple of teams that did something along that order and were sent home, so, I guess that paid off right from the start.

These new plates were actually slower than the old plates. They didn't make quite as much power, but, when we got on the track we were almost as fast as we were with the old plates. A lot of the guys slowed down. If you look at the time sheets for practice there were a lot of cars in the 49s. When it came down to qualifying, you had to go through inspection and put the new plate on and I think there were only 3 cars in the 49s. Everybody else was in the 50s.

We got the car all ready for inspection Thursday. Bobby told me he would have really liked to chassis dyno my car and dial it in because it would have really helped, but, we did what we had to do, so, we were, somewhat, shooting in the dark. You have to get on the line by 9 o'clock and they open the garage at 7. We had to re-scale the car and somehow in all the hustle to get ready to qualify, and everybody does something they wish they could do over again, we didn't get the swaybar hooked up. We ran a 50.90 with the swaybar unhooked and we really couldn't understand what happened because we should have ran a 50.30 or a 50.40. We qualified 33rd out of 67 cars and we were disappointed because we knew we had a top 15 car, but, when you shoot yourself in the foot you've got to live with the circumstances.

It just seemed like we never really got caught up from having to put the engine in at the racetrack. I was confused when my car didn't run any quicker in qualifying. I knew it didn't drive good. It was letting a lot of air get under the left side and it robbed us of at least five-tenths. Then we discovered that the swaybar didn't get hooked up, so, I went from being confused to being pretty upset. When we went out in Happy Hour I was pretty conservative because we didn't have a good backup car with us, but, I had to let my frustrations out. I got to running with some guys that were pretty risky before the start of the race, but, we managed to wind up being 9th fastest. We were actually the fastest Gerhart motor there during Happy Hour.

At least I felt better about the situation because when people know you've got a fast car they'll draft with you and that's the point I needed to prove on top of self gratification that the car would run fast. We still had some issues with the oil tank that we had to correct. We got that done and had to start in the rear, but, there were a lot of other good cars that started in the rear and some of them wanted to draft with me, so, I actually had a pretty good following. We ran from the back of the pack up to as far as I wanted to go and looking at the situation, I knew we didn't have many crashes at Talladega, but, Daytona is not as wide, it's rougher and I know the guys have a lot of confidence built up at Talladega, so, to me it added up to having a lot of crashes in this race. It pretty much turned out that way.

We managed to dodge most of them, but, we did get some front-end damage when the #14 cut a tire down in front of everybody. I got into the #22 who was crossways on the track. We pitted beside each other in the garage area and they actually helped us out some with the car and then we got together in the race, but, he was already crossways and there wasn't anything I could do but try to miss him and I almost did. We had to stop 3 or 4 times so the guys in the crew could put a big patch on the left front nose and the car actually ran faster after that than it did before, so, we still had a good racecar. Everytime we pitted we had to come from the rear. We were just about to get to the lead draft with only few laps to go and I think we burned a piston. I couldn't believe it. We overcame not having an engine on Friday afternoon to coming to Daytona and running well in Happy Hour and the race and just didn't get to close the deal. We proved to ourselves that we could do it, now, we've just got to message the car to get ready for Talladega in October. This car only runs twice a year and won't run again until then. We've got 6 weeks until the next race at Lakeland.

Now I want to brag on ARCA. I could not believe the quality of the cars that showed up for this race. I expected it, but, expecting it and seeing it are 2 different things. 67 cars showed up for this race and the cars that went home would have made an excellent race in years past. They had the cars that made the race in one garage and the ones that didn't in another garage and the ones that went home didn't look like they deserved to be leaving. They were really good cars with some Busch teams and Cup teams with cars that didn't make it. I feel really bad for those guys that didn't make it. I mean, I'm not happy with the end results of our performance, but, then you think about the guys that didn't make it or didn't get the opportunity to show what they've been doing all winter and you feel bad for them. It almost seems like they need to have a consolation race when they have that many cars that keep showing up. ARCA has got to be proud of the quality of cars that showed up. The race was a little dirty, but hey, you have Cup, Busch and Truck races that are full of cautions, too. I just wish it would have gone as well as Talladega, but, I just knew it wouldn't be that way. We ran a cautious race and got out of there with little damage. I was really proud to be a part of ARCA and that race. We finished 29th and we could have probably road around and picked up a couple of more spots, but, I didn't want to do anymore damage to the engine. I just can't tear up parts for a few points. Gerhart was the guy to beat. Congratulations to him on his 5th Daytona win. They ran good and worked hard all winter preparing for this race and it showed when it came time to do it.

Now I want to discuss something and this is more than just my opinion. ARCA had a meeting and SpeedTV was there as their guests, along with all the ARCA PR people. We appreciate all the media talking about the series and giving us all the press and ARCA has definitely come a long way in the last few years, but, the media and the local press seem to be more interested in the Cup cars and their "development drivers" than the ARCA Series as a whole. The media does cover that and I understand that, but, there should be more to their coverage than just that. The ARCA drivers do a great job mingling with the fans and everywhere we go, even when we go out to eat, the racefans want to talk about racing. What I'm hearing from Joe Public, the racefan, is that they are not as interested in the young kids and the Cup cars in ARCA as much as they are the drivers from their part of the country and the regular drivers who are the back bone of ARCA. Some of these people can only keep up with their favorites through the media coverage or through the Internet. That is what these racefans are telling me. Most of the ARCA drivers can relate to the average guy who works 40 hours a week and spends his hard earned money to come to the ARCA race because they live a more similar lifestyle.

I think the Busch Series is going to suffer this season because of the number of Cup teams and drivers involved in the series in previous years. They got involved in the series because there was no Happy Hour. Now they have brought Happy Hour back to the Cup Series and with the work on the car of tomorrow, there's no need for them to run Busch, but, that previous involvement has put a lot of the smaller, and even some of the larger Busch teams out of business. It's showing at Daytona and I know it will show more so at the stand alone races. I know no one wants to see the Cup cars destroy the ARCA Series by using it as what they term a "development" series. It's hard to call ARCA a development series when it's been racing for 50 years and you've got guys like AJ FOYT, Jack Bowsher, Benny Parsons and those kinds of guys who were true ARCA racers and went on to be champions in other series. As far as the development drivers, if I could see any gain in that I might be all right with it, but, these so called "development drivers" come in with sponsorship or family money and go to Cup or Busch teams and then use ARCA for testing. I really don't know of any of these "development" drivers that have come through the ARCA Series that have gone on to do good in any of these other series.

Now, Ryan Newman ran a handful of ARCA races to get qualified to run in Nextel Cup. Kyle Petty won the first ARCA race he ever ran and went right on to Cup. They both have done well for themselves and some of those drivers are friends of mine. The 1st one that comes to mind is Chad Blount who won several ARCA races. Another one is Ryan Hemphill who won, I think, 6 ARCA races in one season. Another is Joey Miller who ran well and won Rookie Of The Year. Where are these guys today? The guys who I think have the best opportunities coming from the ARCA Series right now are David Ragan and Chad McCumbee. The strange part of this is that both of these guys came from ARCA teams with very limited budgets. But McCumbee and Ragan worked on their own racecars and learned how to race and learned how to lose a race before they learned how to win races. They work hard and do whatever it takes to get their car on the track. I really hope they do well. My point is, if you take a kid who is a big fish in a little pond, wins every week and expects to win, and then becomes a regular fish in a larger pond it's hard for him to cope. Instead of developing a driver you've destroyed a driver.

That has nothing to do with their driving ability. It's the mental set they have in their mind. Let me tell you, I'm used to winning 25 to 30 short track races a year up until '99. I made the step to Busch and ARCA and I'm a real small fish in a big pond, but, if I hadn't been mature, at the age I am I couldn't have handled it. I know it's not me, it's the equipment and I know it's the same with the other guys. You can watch reruns and see these guys that have been pushed by the media and they're not even racing today. The fans are dedicated to their family. They're dedicated to their jobs and they like to know what's happening to the ARCA racer who knows how to make his car go fast, who's not afraid to get his hands dirty and who's in the shop working on his car instead of out playing racquet ball, or whatever, and the racer who is dedicated to racing. That's the information I get when I talk to the fans. I just don't think the media knows what the ARCA fans want and if you can show me a "development driver" that has come through the ARCA Series and is doing well, I'll shut up and get out of the way.

I don't want a bunch of coverage when I'm running 20th, that's not what I'm saying. But, if a guy comes and qualifies for the race every week, it doesn't hurt to mention him or, at the very least, give a complete field rundown and show every car one time even if it's just for 5 seconds. Cup has done that before. And if a guy falls out of the race his fans, his family, his whole following is wondering what happened. Let it be known why he's not in the race. They want to know. They deserve to know and that's not asking too much. That's the most asked question I get. Why doesn't the media explain what happened? My phone rings off the hook when something happens to me and all the TV shows is that I'm out. 5 seconds of TV time would take care of all those phone calls. I heard they did do better job this time and I'm glad to hear it. I do want to brag some on SpeedTV. They did show more of the field racing and they talked about the ignition and how it saves the motor and they did interview more ARCA drivers. That is a good step in the right direction.

Another thing I would like to discuss is the IROC Series. As we all know the IROC Series is out of business because they have no sponsorship. I was really proud of the way Frank Kimmel ran at Daytona and in the IROC car to represent our series, but, he had no ARCA drivers to draft with. There were just NASCAR guys and they're going to run together. They're not going to push an ARCA guy to the front and you can quote me on that. Frank beat and banged his way and did everything in his power to represent ARCA and do it well and I was really proud to see that going on. But maybe there should be a new concept.

This will never happen but, this is what I'd like to see happen. I'd love to see a deal where you take the Average Joe racecar driver and put him in equal equipment with all these guys and see what kind of eyebrows that will raise. If you're going to have 3 Cup guys and 3 guys from the IRL, then have 3 guys from ARCA. Let the fans vote on who is in it, whatever, but, develop a new concept. That will create more interest.

I want to be sure to thank the fans who keep supporting us. And I want to be sure to thank the guys in the shop who did a great job, Donnie Richardson, our sponsor All Sport Armour www.allsportarmour.com and of course, Bert Oostlander, the team owner. With the kind of help I will make this season a better one.

I'll catch up with you again before the Lakeland race. Let me know how you feel about this. I'd like to hear from the ARCA fans and get their take on the coverage that the regulars get in the media and what they think about the IROC series. You can email me at mikeharnonracing@yahoo.com.