DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - ARCA Racing Series veteran Mark Thompson became the oldest pole sitter in Daytona International Speedway history Friday and will start up front for Saturday's Lucas Oil 200 presented by AutoZone.<br />
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Thompson, 63, won his first Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell in 17 years, as the Cartersville, Ga. driver topped the charts with a lap of 187.336 mph during group qualifying.<br />
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"Winning the pole at Daytona is a big deal," Thompson said. "It's special. There's probably not a place I'd rather win the pole than here."<br />
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Thompson went out in the fourth group out of seven and wheeled to the top of the charts in his No. 11 Phoenix Air-Ken Schrader Racing Toyota. Cody Coughlin, in the No. 55 JEGS Toyota, will start second and Tom Hessert, in the No. 77 Barbera's Autoland Dodge, third.<br />
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Thompson won three previous Menards Pole Awards, all at Michigan International Speedway - two in 1996 and one in 1997. He surpassed Vern Slagh to become the oldest ARCA Racing Series pole winner at Daytona, track communications officials confirming that Thompson is the oldest pole winner ever in a major racing event at the "World Center of Racing."<br />
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"I was not a big fan of group qualifying before, but obviously I am now a fan," Thompson said. "It's interesting for the fans. It worked out for us. I'm very pleased. I just went out there and found some holes and went fast."<br />
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Brett Hudson qualified fourth in his Brett Hudson Motorsports Dodge and Clay Campbell fifth in the Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet.<br />
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Daniel Suarez, in the ARRIS Toyota, is sixth, with Blake Jones in the No. 22 Uncle Ray's Potato Chips-Carolina Nut Dodge qualifying seventh. Will Kimmel, in the Vogtland Springs-Americanmuscle.com-Accel Ford, was eighth. The top-10 also includes Sean Corr in the No. 48 Empire Racing-Hylton Motorsports Ford in ninth and Leilani Munter in the No. 66 Energy Freedom Toyota rounding out the top-10.<br />
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Venturini Motorsports put three cars in the top 10 - Coughlin, Suarez and Munter. A fourth Venturini entry, Frank Kimmel, in the No. 25 Ansell-Menards Toyota, qualified in the 11th spot.<br />
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"We had a lot of issues in practice under the hood and didn't have any expectations except hoping to have a top 10," Coughlin said. "With those expectations, to be able to come away with a front row start, especially my first time here, is exciting. It's good for morale. It's good to put your head on the pillow at night with the second starting position."<br />
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Hessert and Jones are both from the Cunningham Motorsports stable of cars.<br />
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"You never know what's going to happen in the race, but it's good to start third," Hessert said.<br />
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Forty-eight cars attempted to qualify with 40 making Saturday's race. The top three qualifiers all are utilizing the ARCA Ilmor 396 engine package, which will make its competitive debut on Saturday.<br />
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Saturday's race will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 4:00 pm ET.<br />
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<strong>ARCA Racing Series</strong><br />
<strong> Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL</strong><br />
<strong> Lucas Oil 200 Qualifying - Feb. 13, 2015</strong><br />
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POS NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR TIME SPEED<br />
1 11 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air Toyota 48.042 187.336<br />
2 55 Cody Coughlin/Delaware OH JEGS Toyota 48.046 187.320<br />
3 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Barbera's Autoland Dodge 48.084 187.172<br />
4 09 Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY Brett Hudson Motorsports Dodge 48.098 187.118<br />
5 52 Clay Campbell/Martinsville VA Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet 48.117 187.044<br />
6 15 Daniel Suarez/Monterrey Mexico Arris Toyota 48.120 187.032<br />
7 22 Blake Jones/Sevierville TN Uncle Ray's Potato Chips-Carolina Nut Dodge 48.142 186.947<br />
8 69 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN Vogtland Springs-AmericanMuscle.com-Accel Ford 48.146 186.931<br />
9 48 Sean Corr/Goshen NY Nesco-New York Horsepower CarriageOn Ford 48.174 186.823<br />
10 66 Leilani Munter/Rochester MN Energy Freedom Toyota 48.235 186.587<br />
11 25 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Toyota 48.280 186.413<br />
12 20 Scott Sheldon/Statesville NC Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 48.384 186.012<br />
13 23 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL Alamo Rent A Car Chevrolet 48.452 185.751<br />
14 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil-MAV TV Chevrolet 48.511 185.525<br />
15 54 Matt Kurzejewski/Mansfield PA Lexington Inn & Suites Daytona Beach Chevrolet 48.522 185.483<br />
16 12 Tyler Audie/Orlando FL Audie Expo Toyota 48.628 185.079<br />
17 82 Patrick Staropoli/Plantation FL American RF-Empire Racing Ford 48.677 184.892<br />
18 8 Austin Hill/China Grove NC A&D Welding-ARCO Build & Design Ford 48.689 184.847<br />
19 68 David Levine/Highland Park IL Gary Yeomans Ford 48.703 184.794<br />
20 17 Buster Graham/Lafayette LA Louisiana Tech Ford 48.715 184.748<br />
21 92 Daniel Hemric/Kannapolis NC California Clean Power Chevrolet 48.832 184.305<br />
22 58 John Lowinski-Loh/Milford MA Gary Yeomans-Auto Go Ford 48.834 184.298<br />
23 78 Mason Mitchell/West Des Moines IA Mason Mitchell Motorsports Ford 48.837 184.286<br />
24 49 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Radon.com Ford 48.873 184.151<br />
25 06 Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY Double H Ranch Chevrolet 49.266 182.682<br />
26 6 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL Southwest Florida Cable Construction Ford 49.269 182.671<br />
27 98 Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX AM Technical Solutions Ford 49.589 181.492<br />
28 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Jones Group Ltd Toyota 49.593 181.477<br />
29 42 Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY Crosley-T&T Construction-Glad Precision Dodge 49.658 181.240<br />
30 10 Garrett Smithley/Kannapolis NC Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 50.198 179.290<br />
31 9 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL DK-LOK Ford Provisional<br />
32 3 Karl Weber/Ambia IN Silveus Financial Chevrolet Provisional<br />
33 2 Sarah Cornett-Ching/Summerland BC PitStopsForHope.org Chevrolet Provisional<br />
34 0 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ Kan Do Chevrolet Provisional<br />
35 40 Donnie Neuenberger/Edgewater MD Records One Dodge Provisional<br />
36 97 Bobby Hamilton Jr./Nashville TN Nitroforce Industries Titan 1000 Dodge Provisional<br />
37 18 Bill Catania/Westfield NY Bill Catania Racing Ford Provisional<br />
38 88 Cole Powell/Mount Brydges Ontario Tricar Developments Ford Provisional<br />
39 00 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD ColonialBus-Roy's Body Shop-RAD Ford Provisional<br />
40 1 J.J. Pack/Bealeton VA Bugsy's Auto Ford Provisional<br />
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DID NOT QUALIFY <br />
80 Russ Dugger/Owasso OK Gosselin-Finney Racing Chevrolet <br />
95 Cassie Gannis/Phoenix AZ ManCaveSite.org Dodge <br />
7 Tommy Barrett Jr./Millis MA Our Motorsports Chevrolet <br />
76 Andy Seuss/Salisbury NC O.B. Builders Chevrolet <br />
99 Brent Cross/Cortland NY Northeast Transformer Svc-Johnson Tool Chevrolet <br />
57 Bryan Dauzat/Concord NC O.B. Builders Chevrolet <br />
73 Dale Shearer/Chillicothe MO Shearer Racing Ford <br />
03 Raymond Hassler/Chattanooga TN Affarano Racing Chevrolet <br />
83 Derrick Lancaster/Christiansburg VA Total Car & Truck Service Chevrolet
