Daytona: Justin Marks race report

22nd Place Finishe For Marks After Lap 76 Incident DAYTONA BEACH, FL (2-12-07) - Justin Marks, driver of the ...

22nd Place Finishe For Marks After Lap 76 Incident

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (2-12-07) - Justin Marks, driver of the #65 Construct Corps Dodge, drove his way from 32nd to 10th, in Saturday's ARCA 200, before getting caught up in the final wreck of the day, relegating him to the 22nd spot in his first Daytona International Speedway start in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

After a mechanical problem in the final laps of the first practice caused the team to have to change engines, Marks started the ARCA 200 32nd. Patiently making his way through the field, Marks was able to dodge three previous wrecks, but with only four laps to go, a wreck between Damon Lusk and Tim Russell collected Marks and due to the damage to the car, caused him to go one lap down.

"All things considered, we ended up with a really good car," Justin Marks said. "Robby (Benton) made the right set up calls before and during the race that made us competitive. The hard part about this kind of racing is that there is so much that is just out of your control as a driver. It is so easy for a good race car to be ruined racing this close together. It is a shame we got involved in that last wreck, but I believe we made a statement with how competitive our car was, and let everyone know we are going to be a contender week in and week out this year. We just need to take this one as our mulligan."

Although Marks has competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona Int'l Speedway four times, this was his first time competing in a stock car.

"Driving a stock car at Daytona International Speedway was a dream come true. Although we didn't take home the finish that we wanted, I am really proud of this team, and I can't thank them and Construct Corps enough for giving me this opportunity. We are a team that is competing for the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship, so we will take this finish and move on to focus on the next race."

Marks and the RAB Racing crew are back at the shop preparing for the Construct Corps/Palm Beach Grading 250 at USA Speedway in Lakeland, FL on March 24th.