Lucas Oil
Slick Mist 200
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Race: Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200
Date: February 18, 2012
Cale Gale made his debut for Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) this weekend in the No. 6 Rheem Chevrolet in the ARCA Racing Series. As an ARCA championship-winning team, the ESR group utilized the weekend to get Gale warmed up for next Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, and also for the March 10th ARCA event at Mobile International Speedway.
The team opened up the weekend with a car noticeably quicker than many of the competitors. The No. 6 Rheem Chevrolet ranked among the top-five speeds for single-car runs in first practice, and Gale picked up 0.118-seconds during final practice just hours before the race. Gale ran a 49.516-second lap to capture the sixth starting position among the 54 cars attempting to qualify for the 200-mile event at the prestigious Daytona International Speedway.
After starting the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 in the sixth position, Gale found himself in the slower outside lane as many of his competitors dropped down to the inside groove and passed drivers racing around the top. Without much drafting help, Gale had to test his patience to pick up positions around the track. A couple of quick cautions during the opening 15 laps brought many of the drivers down pit road and enabled Gale to move through the field.
By lap 18, Gale led the field to the green flag in his No. 6 Rheem Chevrolet. The 26-year-old from Mobile, Ala., stayed out during the two previous cautions, gained track position, and quickly proved the ability of his car by pulling several car lengths ahead of his competitors without anyone’s help. In fact, the Rheem Chevrolet may have been almost too strong alone and three competitors trailing the No. 6 soon utilized drafting to overtake Gale, who was forced to settle in to the fourth position.
The ARCA race at Daytona is typically filled with cautions, but this event was no normal race as the field ran nearly 50 consecutive laps under green. Gale, who was the only driver on a different pit strategy, was forced to visit pit road under green flag conditions for a fuel-only stop. Gale returned to the track and came dangerously close to falling a lap down to the rest of the field. However, a well-timed caution and a leader who was willing to work with Gale enabled the No. 6 Rheem Chevrolet to stay on the lead lap when the yellow flag was displayed on lap 68. Gale circled back around the field and remained on track for the closing laps trying to work his way around traffic. The field was set up for a green-white-checkered finish and a couple drivers agreed to go with Gale to the high-side with a plan to move to the front. However, when it was time to go, Gale pulled into the upper groove, while some of his expected partners stayed around the bottom of the racetrack. After 80 laps of racing, Gale was officially scored in the 13th position.
Quotes from Cale:
“Our Rheem Chevrolet was pretty good today. We chose a different pit strategy that didn’t work out for us. We ended up having a long green run that we didn’t think would happen. It’s not what we wanted, and we’re disappointed. We have next week coming up, and all of our Rheem guys are really excited to kick off our first truck race in Daytona. Hopefully we’ll get a good run in next weekend.”
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