PENSACOLA, Fla. — The ASA STARS National Tour and ARCA Menards Series East will team up for a huge doubleheader weekend at Five Flags Speedway on March 23-24.
It all starts off on March 23 with the ARCA Menards Series East opener in the Pensacola ARCA 200, while the ASA STARS National Tour will have open practice in addition to local division racing. The super late models will then take center stage on March 24 for a 200-lap ASA STARS race.
Next year will be the sixth-straight year the ARCA sanctioning body will compete at the Pensacola, Fla. half-mile. The 2019 Pensacola ARCA 200 was run as an ARCA Menards Series national race, won by Michael Self. For the past four years, the Pensacola 200 has been contested as an ARCA Menards Series East race.
Current NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer are both former ARCA winners at Five Flags, with Mayer winning the race in 2020 and his soon-to-be JR Motorsports teammate Smith winning in 2021-’22. Reigning ARCA Menards Series East champion William Sawalich won last year’s Pensacola ARCA 200 to open the season.
Meanwhile, it will be the second appearance for the ASA STARS at Five Flags Speedway. The nationally touring super late model series held its inaugural race in March of this year at the half-mile, ushering in a new era of super late model racing. Casey Roderick won the Sunshine State 200 over Jeremy Doss and eventual ASA STARS champion Ty Majeski. The race featured ten lead changes among seven drivers.
Donnie Wilson Motorsports Team Manager Bond Suss stated, “I think it’s a great opportunity where our younger drivers can compete in both events at the same race track. I definitely could see some of our driver development drivers being able to be at the same track and run both events that weekend.”
Sunday’s ASA STARS race will be co-sanctioned with the ASA Southern Super Series as the opener for the Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series. Doss won his first Blizzard Series title this year, while Gio Ruggiero was crowned both the ASA Southern Super Series champion and rookie of the year.