Harrison Burton, winner of the season-opening Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona, used a late day mock qualifying run to turn the fastest lap in ARCA Menards Series open testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday. A total of 22 teams and 27 drivers were present for the test, which ran from early afternoon to early evening.
Burton, driving for Venturini Motorsports, toured the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval at a speed of 182.242 mph, edging teammates Christian Eckes and Michael Self at the top of the speed chart. While Self was near the top of the charts all day, Eckes also used a late run to record the second fastest time of the day minutes before the session ended.
Riley Herbst, who sat at the top of the leader board for most of the day, wound up fourth quickest in one of the two Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camrys the team brought to the test.
“I like this place, but it’s tough,” Herbst commented. “Both of our cars were good today.”
Herbst, who finished second in ARCA’s return to Charlotte last spring, turned a fast lap at 179.587 mph.
Defending ARCA Menards Series champion Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five, at 178.247 mph in a GMS Racing Chevrolet.
“It feels different to be back in an ARCA car,” Creed stated. “This No. 21 GMS Chevrolet is a brand new car, and this place is tough. That’s probably as big a reason it feels different to me.”
Creed, who finished third behind Herbst last May at Charlotte is looking forward to his return to the series.
“I can’t wait!” Creed stated. “I hope I get to do more than just Charlotte.”
The test was slowed for a trio of incidents involving the No. 35 Toyota of Travis Millburn, the No. 32 Chevrolet of Gus Dean, and the No. 57 of Bryan Dauzat. None of the cars suffered significant damage and none of the drivers reported injury. A brief shower also delayed the session momentarily early in the afternoon.
The ARCA Menards Series returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23 for the General Tire 150. The race will be broadcast live on FS1 at 9 pm ET. ARCA for Me members can access free live timing & scoring, live track updates, and live chat at ARCARacing.com. New users can register for free at ARCARacing.com/login.
