Daytona International Speedway to Host New Series with Rising Racer

Michael Lira, the seventeen-year-old high school senior at Spruce Creek High School and professional race car driver in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, is set to test this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.  Lira will run the No. 69 Ford Fusion for Kimmel Racing.

It will be Lira’s second time testing at the world famous superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.  The talented young driver made his superspeedway debut prior to the beginning of the 2014 ARCA season, participating in two full days of testing with the ARCA Racing Series.

This time around, Lira knows what to expect from the 2.5-mile tri-oval and its high-banked turns.

“We’re just hoping to get more track time and drafting experience,” Lira said. “On a typical race weekend practice times are short and you very rarely practice drafting, so track time is invaluable.”

Of course, due to ARCA age restrictions on superspeedways, seventeen-year-old Lira will not be able to race at Daytona until next season when he turns eighteen.  However, these tests will provide Lira with the strong foundation that he needs to succeed once he is able to compete.

In the little experience that he has had on superspeedways, Lira has shown great promise.  In addition to testing at Daytona last season, Lira also tested at Talladega Superspeedway and raced at Pocono Raceway.

At Talladega, Lira was impressive.  After a strong first day, he posted the fastest single-car lap during the morning session of the second day.

At Pocono, Lira was even more impressive.  The rookie surprised everyone by qualifying fourth in his first start at the “Tricky Triangle” and then went on to score a top-10 finish in the ModSpace 150.

Lira has high hopes for this season in the ARCA Racing Series.  With a full season of ARCA racing under his belt, the experience that he gained in 2014 will go a long way toward improving his results this season.  Last year, the majority of the tracks that Lira raced at were tracks that he had never even seen before, let alone raced on.

For more information, follow Michael Lira on Twitter at @1MichaelLira and visit his official website at www.MichaelLiraRacing.com.  You can also find him on Facebook at /MichaelLiraRacingOfficial.

Testing at Daytona is set to take place December 19 - 20, 2014, with the first session starting at 9:00 a.m. ET on Friday morning.  For Live Timing and Scoring go to www.arcaracing.com.