Barrett to Test ARCA Car at Daytona
Tommy Barrett, Jr. of Millis, MA will test Friday and Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. Barrett will drive for Carter 2 Motorsports during the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards test. Barrett is thankful his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car owner Chris Our contacted Roger Carter to setup the deal. Barrett and Our “decided that it would be a good opportunity, even if we don’t race, but just to get approved and just have some fun,” Barrett said.
Daytona’s 2.5 mile tri-oval is completely different from New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the largest track Barrett has driven. He has prepared by watching video and driving some iRacing. “I’m just hoping to go there and kind of feel it out and hopefully it comes to me pretty quick.”
While Barrett does not plan to race in February, Barrett wants to get approval for superspeedways. He is looking at driving in additional series, including ARCA. When asked about the status of a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride, Barrett said, “Nothing’s done till it’s set in stone.”
“We’re just going to go down and try to get some experience in this Roger Carter Racing ARCA car, have some fun. … It’s definitely something that we’re looking to go to. Obviously it’s a step up, and it’s a fendered car and it’s Daytona. So hopefully I can go there and do well and get approved, and then we can take it from there and see what the next step is.”
Barrett will join fellow Bay State driver John Lowinski-Loh at the test.
“Definitely looking forward to going down there and testing with those guys and also with John Lowinski-Loh and I know he’s grateful about the opportunity. And I know a lot more people would like to be down here, but nowadays it’s just really hard with the economy and sponsorship and I’m just really grateful and lucky to have this opportunity.”
Barrett plans to return to Our Motorsports for his sophomore season. “We’re definitely going to go back and do some Modified racing and that’s the plan as of right now.”
Barrett finished his rookie year in the Canto Paving/Ferguson Waterworks No. 22 12th in points with one win, three top fives, five top 10s, and one pole. While he showed speed in the early part of the season, Barrett only had one top 15 in the first five races. “The year just started off not where we wanted to be and that kind of held things up for a while.”
He improved with consecutive top 10s at Loudon and Monadnock and was fast at Thompson until he crashed out. The next race at Bristol was his breakthrough victory on national television. Barrett had back to back top tens at Loudon and Stafford. He ended the season with a 12th place effort, after recovering from a spin.
“I still felt like we had some bad luck at the end of the year there, but I felt like we were working a lot better as a team and definitely some room for some improvement. But that’s what we’re working on in the offseason and you’ll definitely see a lot of improvement in 2015.”
Barrett raced with the Valenti Modified Racing Series after a dominant run in the SK Light Modifieds at Stafford Motor Speedway. Once Barrett adapted to the longer races, he found success with eight wins since 2012 and a second place finish in 2013 points, his only full season. Barrett also picked up the $10,000 Open Wheel Wednesday win at Seekonk in the family’s No. 9.
“I definitely learned a lot in the last couple of years racing with the MRS, and I learned a lot racing with the Whelen Modified Tour.”
The main take away from the VMRS events was tire conservation, where Barrett would charge late. “You just learn you just got to take care of your stuff and pass someone when the opportunity’s given, and not force anything.
“Some people they like it and other people are against it. They think it’s not racing, but it’s not anything against the rules. You’re just kind of doing what you can within the rules to try to be in first on the last lap.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com