Event Preview: ARMS drivers ready for battle at Ark-La-Tex
Event Preview: ARMS drivers ready for battle at Ark-La-Tex
VIVIAN, Louisiana (April 25, 2024) — Race fans are about to get another fix of high-speed, ground-pounding Modified action, as teams from the USRA American Racer Modified Series (ARMS) invade Ark-La-Tex Speedway, presented by Genuine RV and Powersports, this Friday and Saturday for two nights of championship points racing.
Over 40 drivers from around Louisiana, Texas and points beyond have indicated they’ll be on hand, including former series champions Triston Dycus, Chris Henigan and reigning champion Joe Duvall. Others expected to compete include Jon Mitchell, Philip Houston, Boone Evans and Drake Findley.
Also on that list is Bo Day, of Greenville, Texas. While he stepped away last fall, he’s back at it again.
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“My plans were to retire at the end of last season,” he explained. “We won the track championship out here at Hunt County Raceway in Greenville last year, and I felt like it was a good time to hang it up. We lost some sponsors, plus my kids are into softball and baseball pretty heavily.
“My little girl is nine now, and I’ve been coaching her since she was three years old. We play softball pretty much five days a week; so family has become a priority for us. But racing is something I’m always going to love. I used to struggle at Ark-La-Tex, but now we’ve won there. I’m excited to go.”
Lance Plant, of Canton, Texas, is another Modified veteran preparing his machine for battle in Vivian.
“I’ve run a couple of races so far, and am excited to get to Ark-La-Tex this weekend,” he said. “We started the year off at Rocket, did OK, and finished eighth in the feature. There were quite a few heavy-hitters there. We went to Boothill the next weekend, and made the A Main there, as well.
“We’re just plugging along, and trying to get some laps in like everybody else. It takes good weather in the Spring to really get into a rhythm, and here in Texas we get, rain, sleet, snow and major storms in any given day. But we’re ready to go racing, make some laps and make another trip to Louisiana.”
Shane Hartline, of Ivanhoe, Texas, is one oval veteran who can pounce on the competition in a flash.
“We’ve run our car twice so far this year, once at Hunt County, and once at Rocket,” Hartline explained. “I started 12th at Hunt County and drove up to fifth; and at Rocket we started on the pole, jumped the cushion and fell back to sixth, but made it back to fourth at the end.
“It’s a new car, and we’re still trying to work some bugs out of it. We ran once last year at Ark-La-Tex, I think we ended up in the top-10. There’s definitely room to race and really get after it at that place.”
Hot Laps for Night 1 on Friday at Ark-La-Tex will get under way at 7 p.m., with racing to follow. All of those teams will be competing for $1,500 to win on Friday night and $2,000 to win on Saturday.
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By Phil Whipple, RaceON.com Staff Writer
