ARCA

Johnny Leonard Daytona qualifying notes

Leonard; Florida Motorsports Group Qualifies 23rd In Daytona Daytona Beach, Florida - - Johnny Leonard, driver of the No. 13 Boca Bay Builders/Ft. Myers Marine Pontiac Grand Prix qualified 23rd Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday's ...

Edited: Feb 13, 2005, 3:36 PM

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Leonard; Florida Motorsports Group Qualifies 23rd In Daytona

Daytona Beach, Florida - - Johnny Leonard, driver of the No. 13 Boca Bay Builders/Ft. Myers Marine Pontiac Grand Prix qualified 23rd Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday's Advance Discount Auto Parts 200, the 2005 season opener for the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Daytona International Speedway.

Prior to taming the 2.5-mile Superspeedway, it got a little chaotic. Leonard, the Cape Coral Florida native was supposed to head out 39th in the qualifying order, but several drivers failed to exit technical inspection forfeiting their chance to make a lap, moving Leonard to 31st. As Leonard attempted to leave pit road, his transmission became stuck in gear. Quickly, the Florida Motorsports Group crew came to their driver's aid and repaired the issue in a stout matter of time.

With guidance from partner Rick Woodard, Leonard was reminded to keep calm and do his job. Leonard hustled around the track, pulling a best lap time of 50.006 seconds, at 179.978 MPH.

"Man, I'm happy," said driver Johnny Leonard. "I didn't know what I was thinking when the car didn't go into gear, but now that's all out the window, we'll relax a little bit and prepare for the race tomorrow."

"Our car is great in the draft, and I love drafting," continued Johnny. "If we can play it safe and draft with the right people, avoid the big one, we should have a good finish to start our year."

For team partner, and owner of Boca Bay Builders Rick Woodard, he's very excited. "I had a feeling that we were going to run a lap near that time, and we did. The team has worked hard all weekend, but we have a good drafting car, and we all have high hopes for the race."

-fmg-

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