Catchfence

(TOLEDO, Ohio) – Morning rain throughout the Toledo area caused ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards officials to cancel Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell this afternoon, leaving the field for tomorrow’s Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care to be set by the 2010 owner standings. ARCA rookie Milka Duno will start first.

Duno’s No. 63 Sheltra Motorsports entry carries the owner points earned by her team owner, 2010 driver and owner champion Patrick Sheltra. ARCA regulations call for the previous season’s owner points to be the reference in any of the first four races of a season; the Menards 200 will be the fourth.

“It always is nice starting up front, but I’d like to know more of the track,” Duno said after the first practice today. “I’m still learning the track today. It’s my first time here, and in the practice it was really, really difficult. It was tough. It’s good that we get some extra practice, but it’s tough when it’s your first time on the track.”

While Duno will start first, another female raised eyebrows in practice by turning the fastest lap. 19-year-old Kenzie Ruston, called the “best female talent in the country” by Venturini Motorsports general manager Billy Venturini, drove her best of 24 laps in the opening practice in 16.411 seconds (109.683 mph) to top the combined chart over two sessions.

Ruston finished practice just ahead of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader Matt Crafton – making a special appearance for his third ARCA start – and ARCA Racing Series points leader Ty Dillon, who were second and third, respectively.

“This is definitely not expected,” Ruston said, surprised. “I knew we were fast. When we came here and tested, we were about the same that we are now, but I guess I thought everybody else would be a little bit quicker. It’s very overwhelming for my first ARCA race, but I’m excited. Billy and I are working on the car and getting it just a tad better.”

On one of her 24 opening session laps, Ruston had to use every bit of the race track in Turn 2. She scraped the wall and found minor damage in the right rear corner of her No. 25 Toyota.

“I just got a little bit tight and then let off the gas and the wall just kind of sucked me in,” she said. “That was my mistake; hopefully, we can keep it in one piece.”

Venturini, who believes Ruston can become the first female driver to win in the ARCA Racing Series, was happy.

“I’m very pleased,” he said. “I knew she’d come here and be a top-five car. Top of the board, that’s awesome. She’s the best female talent there is in the country, and we’ve shown it here pretty quickly. She’s going to excel this year. I expect her to do lots of good things, and our goal is to have her be the first woman in Victory Lane in the ARCA Racing Series.”

Scott Bross, of nearby Temperance, Mich., will start second in the No. 77 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge. The No. 77 car finished third in owner points last year with driver Tom Hessert; last year’s second-place entry, the Eddie Sharp Racing No. 81, is not entered at Toledo this weekend. Bross’s start will be his ARCA Racing Series debut. Last week, he raced at Toledo in ARCA’s weekly Sportsman class.

Frank Kimmel (No. 44 Ansell/Menards Ford) will start third, and Ruston will start the race fourth.

Matt Merrell will start fifth, and Dakoda Armstrong will start sixth. John Stancill, who like Ruston will make his ARCA debut for Venturini Motorsports, will start seventh, ahead of Tim George Jr., Bryan Silas, and Grant Enfinger.

Chris Buescher will start 20th. Last season, Buescher won both races at Toledo Speedway, taking the May event from the pole and then winning from the 23rd position in September, when qualifying was also cancelled because of inclement weather.

Dillon and Crafton will start together on the 12th row, 23rd and 24th, respectively. Crafton assumed the Truck Series points lead with a third-place finish last night at Dover International Speedway, and then took a 6:45 a.m. flight from Philadelphia to Detroit and drove down I-75 with his ThorSport Racing crew to be prepared for the 11 a.m. driver meeting. He will drive Kimmel Racing’s No. 88 Messina Wildlife Management/Menards Ford.

The 200-lap, 100-mile Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, with live timing and scoring and live audio coverage presented by ARCA Nation at ARCARacing.com. The ARCA Racing Series will host an on-track driver autograph session prior to the race for one hour, from noon-1. Grandstand gates at Toledo Speedway will open at 10 a.m.

ARCA Fan Fest, a family-friendly and interactive race festival, will take place as part of the race day festivities.

The full race starting lineup is below.

No Qualifying. Field set by final 2010 Car Owner Points
2011 Event #3 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
Toledo Speedway, Toledo, Ohio, 5-15-11
Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care
May 15, 2011, 1:30 PM EDT
POS	NO	DRIVER/HOMETOWN
1	63	Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela
2	77	Scott Bross/Temperance MI
3	44	Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN
4	25	Kenzie Ruston/El Reno OK
5	32	Matt Merrell/Portland TX
6	22	Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle IN
7	55	John Stancill/Ayden NC
8	31	Tim George Jr./New York NY
9	11	Bryan Silas/Stuart FL
10	36	Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL
11	1	Chad McCumbee/Supply NC
12	14	Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL
13	23	Levi Youster/Oak Harbor OH
14	34	Darrell Basham/Henryville IN
15	15	Rob Jones/Bowie MD
16	52	Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ
17	28	Ron Cox/Soddy Daisy TN
18	26	Con Nicolopoulos/Columbus MI
19	48	James Hylton/Inman SC
20	17	Chris Buescher/Prosper TX
21	10	Marc Easton/Lake Saranac NY
22	06	Tommy O’Leary IV/Cygnet OH
23	41	Ty Dillon/Lewisville NC
24	88	Matt Crafton/Tulare CA
25	7	Mike Young/Toledo OH
26	94	Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI
27	58	Chad Hackenbracht/Cornelius NC
28	82	Sean Corr/Goshen NY
29	12	Maryeve Dufault/Sorel Quebec
30	85	Tim Cowen/Ashland OH
31	8	Jared Marks/Napoleon OH

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series tests the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, annually visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course.

Founded by John Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in two professional touring series and local weekly events.

- ARCA, Press Release