MVRL ARCA SERIES S1 R1 Recap

31 March 2025
Maximum Velocity Racing League | Season 1 | Round 1
ARCA Series | Daytona International Speedway

On Monday, March 31st, the Maximum Velocity Racing League launched the inaugural season of its ARCA Series with an intense, high-speed battle at Daytona International Speedway. Zachary Groover led the field to green after securing the pole with a fast lap of 50.890, with his brother, Brandon Groover, lining up alongside him on the front row.

As the race got underway, the outside line took a few laps to form, but once it did, the lead pack saw constant position swapping among the frontrunners. The field showed patience early on, with many drivers using the opening laps to learn the limits of the ARCA cars and how aggressively they could push in the draft.

The first big incident of the night struck on lap 10 when contact among several drivers sent Christopher Kresge off track and into the grass with significant front-end damage. As drivers attempted to rejoin the racing surface, more contact brought out the caution, but Kresge was able to stay on the lead lap. Once the race resumed, the high-speed pack racing continued with multiple lead changes.

Lap 20 saw another major incident—a four-car wreck that collected Justin Michael. This caution provided a strategic opportunity for the field to make a fuel stop. While the drivers would still need one more pit stop to make it to the finish, Kresge gambled by staying out, taking control of the lead for the restart.

From there, the field settled into a long green-flag run, remaining mostly single file in a tight, fast-moving pack. There were a few minor off-track incidents, but none were severe enough to bring out another caution. At the front, Christopher Howell established himself as the dominant force, receiving strong pushes from Jordon Knies.

However, Knies soon learned a tough lesson about managing engine temperatures in the ARCA car. After pushing Howell for too long without clean air, his engine overheated and expired just past the halfway point, abruptly ending his race. This served as a cautionary tale for the rest of the field, emphasizing the delicate balance of aggression and patience in pack racing.

With 20 laps remaining, drivers began making their final green-flag pit stops. The sequence was chaotic, with multiple cars entering and exiting pit road simultaneously, leading to some contact and near-misses. As the stops cycled through, the field became fragmented, splitting into several smaller drafting packs.

Out front, a four-car lead pack emerged, with Rob Haynes leading the charge. Taking lessons from Knies’s earlier misfortune, the front pack devised a strategy to rotate the leader, ensuring no single driver pushed for too long and risked overheating. Their coordinated effort allowed them to maintain a blistering pace, steadily pulling away from the trailing packs.

As the white flag waved, Justin Michael found himself in the lead, with his teammate Haynes glued to his bumper, ready to push him to the finish. Coming out of the final corner, Haynes made the decision to stay in line rather than challenge for the win, remaining committed to his teammate and pushing Michael across the line to victory in the opening round at Daytona.

With round one in the books, the Maximum Velocity Racing League now turns its attention to Phoenix Raceway next Monday, April 7th. The action kicks off at 9:30 PM ET, streaming live on the Virtual Grip Network!