Monday, February 8
Track: New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, half-mile oval
Race: 1 of 8
Event: Jeep Beach 175 (175 laps, 84 miles)
Schedule
Final Practice: 3:00 p.m. ET
Qualifying: 6:00 p.m. ET
Race: 7:40 p.m. ET (Trackpass on NBC Sports Gold)
Taylor Gray, No. 17 Ford Performance Fusion
- Taylor Gray will make his first career start at New Smyrna Speedway as he begins his title pursuit in the ARCA Menards Series East on Monday.
- In addition to running the entire ARCA East schedule, Gray plans to enter a majority of the ARCA Menards Series national races, a handful of ARCA Menards Series West races and will make his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in April after his 16th birthday.
- The 15-year-old competed in five ARCA East races in 2020 with two top-five and five top-10 finishes. The lone race he missed was this race one year ago due to age restrictions.
- Click here for Gray’s career statistics.
Gray on New Smyrna: “I’m excited to get to Florida and kick off the 2021 season. After having to miss New Smyrna last season, I am looking forward to racing there for the first time. We ended last season on a little bit of a hot streak with a win at Kern County and a podium at Phoenix, so hopefully we can pick right back up where we left off.”
Joey Iest, No. 54 Ford Fusion
- Joey Iest (pronounced east) will make his debut with David Gilliland Racing at New Smyrna Speedway for the first of his six scheduled ARCA East races with the team. He will also contest the full ARCA West schedule for Naake-Klauer Motorsports.
- The Madera, California native competed in four ARCA West races in 2020 for Naake-Klauer Motorsports with a best finish of 11th at The Bullring at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
- Iest is no stranger to success having won the 51FIFTY Jr. Late Model championship and the Western Speed 2 Midget Series championship in 2019.
- Click here for Iest’s career statistics.
Iest on New Smyrna: “A new track with a new team is always challenging. Thankfully, we were able to test there a few weeks ago, which helped me get familiar with the track and work with my team for the first time. I want to learn as much as possible on Monday night and hopefully earn a top-five finish. I would consider that a successful debut with DGR.”
