THE RACE: 63rd Annual General Tire 200
THE PLACE: Daytona International Speedway
THE DATE: Saturday, February 14, 2026
THE TIME: 12:00 PM ET
TV: FOX, Live
RADIO: MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90, Live
- The ARCA Menards Series opens its 74th season with the 63rd Annual General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway. It is the first of 20 races at 19 tracks in 15 states.
- Nelson Stacy, who won four NASCAR Cup Series races including the 1961 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, won the first ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona International Speedway in 1964. Two qualifying races to set the field, similar in fashion to the current America 250 Florida Duel at Daytona for the NASCAR Cup Series, were held prior to the race; they were won by Earl Balmer and Jack Bowsher.
- Defending series championship team Pinnacle Racing Group returns in 2026 with Jack Wood (No. 28 PRG Chevrolet) opening their defense of the owners championship. Wood has 85 career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts, including four at Daytona. Pinnacle won the Daytona race last year on its way to the series championship with Brenden “Butterbean” Queen. Wood has two previous ARCA Menards Series starts at Daytona; he finished ninth in 2021 and eighth in 2023. Taylor Reimer (No. 77 BuzzBallz Chevrolet) will join the team for her first attempt at Daytona; she finished third in her series debut at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in 2024 and notched a fifth-place finish at Kansas Speedway in 2025.
- Nitro Motorsports has six drivers entered for the General Tire 200: 2024 Talladega Superspeedway winner Jake Finch (No. 15 Phoenix Toyota), 2025 ARCA Menards Series West winner at Colorado National Speedway Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota), 2024 Daytona winner Gus Deal (No. 25 Nitro Motorsports Toyota), reigning Bounty Rookie of the Year Isabella Robusto (No. 55 Mobil 1 Toyota), Lime Rock Park winner Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 JBL Toyota), and newcomer Wesley Slimp (No. 90 Nitro Motorsports Toyota).
- Dean will make his first start at Daytona since visiting victory lane in 2024; in addition to his win at Daytona, he scored the first of his three career series wins at Talladega Superspeedway in 2016. He set the fastest lap in the Pre-Race Practice at Daytona, leading the other five Nitro Motorsports entries to the top of the speed charts in a tight formation draft at the end of the first day of activity.
- Gio Ruggiero (No. 18 1st Auto Toyota) will take the reins of the Joe Gibbs Racing ride on superspeedways and intermediate tracks in 2026. Ruggiero showed superspeedway prowess in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2025, finishing second at Daytona and winning from the pole at Talladega. Ruggiero, the reigning Trucks rookie of the year, finished third in the ARCA Menards Series East standings in 2024 with one win at Five Flags Speedway.
- Greg Van Alst (No. 19 Michael Maples Motorsports Chevrolet), the 2023 ARCA Menards Series winner at Daytona, will make his first series appearance since 2024 at Kansas Speedway. Van Alst has four career ARCA Menards Series starts at Daytona, with a third-place finish in 2024 to go along with his victory in 2023.
- Jason Kitzmiller (No. 97 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) will make his seventh career series start at Daytona, returning after a career-best third in 2025. Kitzmiller had a career season last year, finishing third in the series championship standings with a pair of top-five finishes and 14 top-tens.
- Garrett Mitchell (No. 30 Kenetik Ford), known to his legion of fans on YouTube as Cleetus McFarland, will make his second start at Daytona. Mitchell, who owns the Freedom Factory – formerly known as DeSoto Speedway – in nearby Bradenton, finished 30th last year after being swept into a pair of incidents. He rebounded to score his first career top-ten finish at Talladega Superspeedway. Mitchell was seventh fastest in the recent Pre-Race Practice at Daytona, the first non-Nitro Motorsports driver in the combined two-day results.
- Sean Corr (No. 8 Nesco / STS / The Trans Group Chevrolet) has been strong at Daytona throughout his career, which dates to 2010. In 16 career starts at Daytona, he has five top-five finishes, including a career-best third in 2023. Corr also started from the Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole in 2012 and led 14 laps before engine troubles sidelined him early. Corr was also fighting for the overtime victory in 2018 when he was taken out in a multi-car crash not of his making.
- Timothy “Mini” Tyrell (No. 17 RAM Trucks Chevy) will make his ARCA Menards Series debut a day after he welcomes RAM Trucks back into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Kaulig Racing. Tyrell, a consistent championship contender in the CARS Tour, will drive in the ARCA Menards Series for Cook Racing Technologies, the team that earned the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West owners championship.
- Reigning ARCA Menards Series West Bounty Rookie of the Year Robbie Kennealy (No. 41 Jan’s Towing Ford) will make his first Daytona appearance in a race that was added to his calendar after participating in the ARCA Menards Series “Road to Daytona” program at the series’ annual Pre-Race Practice in January. Kennealy took to the high speeds at the 2.5-mile tri-oval quickly, impressing 1995 series champion and two-time Daytona winner Andy Hillenburg. Team owner Jan Qualkenbush quickly arranged to acquire a car from Hillenburg, who will offer some expertise and advice to Kennealy and Qualkenbush throughout the week.
- Two drivers, Alli Owens (No. 68 Bighorn Outdoors Ford) and Logan Misuraca (No. 86 Orlando Health / City Garage Motorsports Ford) have very close local ties. Owens, who has taken a 12-year break from racing to raise her family as a single mother, is from South Daytona, while Misuraca, a member of four state championship-winning high school dance teams, is from nearby Sanford. Owens, with 32 career ARCA Menards Series starts, has raced at Daytona three times previously; she started a career-best second in 2009 and has a best finish of 23rd in 2010. Misuraca, a driver for the NASCAR Racing Experience at Daytona with thousands of laps at the track, started ninth and finished 18th in her only previous Daytona start in 2023.
- Former NASCAR Cup Series team owner and current ARCA Menards Series crew chief Bob Rahilly made his return to the track at Daytona for the series’ Pre-Race Practice in January after suffering third-degree burns in a house fire in early 2025. Rahilly, who co-owned RahMoc Enterprises with partner Butch Mock, won four Cup races with Neil Bonnett driving and also scored the win in the 1983 Busch Clash. RahMoc notched a total of five top-five finishes at Daytona, including Lake Speed’s runner-up finish to Bill Elliott in the 1985 Daytona 500. Bonnett finished fourth in 1988 version of the race, Joe Ruttman finished third in 1991, and Dick Trickle fifth in the 1992 Daytona 500.
- The 40-car field will be set by each car’s fastest lap in Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole Qualifying on Friday. The field will be split into groups by random draw, with each group then given four minutes on the track which should translate to three laps on the track at speed. The top 32 speeds will be locked in with the final eight positions determined via the highest in 2025 owners points who are not already in on speed.
- On-track activity for the ARCA Menards Series at Daytona International Speedway starts with practice at 4 pm ET on Thursday, February 12. The field will be set in Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole Qualifying at 1:30 pm ET on Friday, February 13. The 63rd Annual General Tire 200 is set for noon on Saturday, February 14 and will be televised live on FOX. The race will also be broadcast live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90, and on MRN.com. Live timing & scoring data and live race audio will be available on ARCARacing.com; for up-to-the-minute updates please follow @ARCA_Racing on X (formerly known as Twitter).
About ARCA
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum in Toledo, Ohio, and acquired by NASCAR in April 2018, is the leading grassroots stock car sanctioning body in the United States. Bridging the gap between NASCAR’s top three national touring series and weekly and regional tour racing all across the country, the organization sanctions over 100 races per year in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, ASA STARS National Tour, ASA CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Southern Super Series plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. For more information about ARCA visit www.arcaracing.com, or follow ARCA on Facebook (@ARCARacing) and Twitter (@ARCA_Racing).
About Menards
A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. You’ll find a large selection of lumber, roofing, siding, construction blocks, trusses, doors and windows, plus cabinets, appliances, countertops, flooring, lighting, paint, plumbing supplies and more. To complete the job, Menards has quality hand tools, power tools, fasteners, electrical tools plus storage options and supplies for everyone from the weekend warrior to the pro!
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