What to know ahead of ARCA Menards Series season opener at Daytona

On Saturday, the ARCA Menards Series will open its 2025 season with the Ride the 'Dente 200 at Daytona International Speedway. 

ARCA Menards Series driver Ryan Roulette — pilot of the No. 67 Ford for Maples Motorsports — talked about the race and what to expect. 

Forty-seven drivers make up the entry list for the race, and seven drivers will go home following qualifying. This year's field includes full-time ARCA drivers, part-time drivers and drivers from other racing disciplines such as Katherine Legge and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves. 

"In previous years, we had a lot of drivers come back to ARCA that had run at Daytona and Talladega multiple years in a row," Roulette said. "There was a lot of experience on superspeedways as well as new guys like me... This year, we've seen a lot of those individuals graduate. We have a lot of new faces coming. It's going to be a unique field to say the least."

Those names include Legge, Castroneves, CARS Tour champion Brenden "Butterbean " Queen and social media star Garrett Mitchell. 

The thing those four drivers have in common? Little experience in stock cars on superspeedways. Despite that, Roulette isn't worried about anyone in the field not being deserving of a Daytona ride.

"(Those drivers) didn't make as far as they did in their disciplines without being amazing drivers," Roulette said. 'They know how to put a car where it needs to be. Albeit, a stock car is a bit different, and the draft is different from anything they (Legge and Castroneves) have seen. They're going to pick it up quick." 

It's the intangibles of Daytona that make every race at the 'World Center of Racing' so unique. The huge, snarling packs that form at the 2.5 mile oval can throw a wrench into a team's gameplan in a heartbeat. 

"What gets interesting is when you start piling all 40 of us together in the draft," Roulette said. "I don't think it's going to be like the days of old in ARCA where you have a fast pack of 10 or 12 cars in the front, another pack, another pack and then a few stragglers. I see that lead pack probably being 20-plus cars." 

Practice for the Ride the 'Dente 200 will be held at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, with group qualifying taking place at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday. The Ride the 'Dente 200 at Daytona will go green shortly after noon ET on Saturday, with coverage on Fox and MRN. 

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.