The draft at Daytona International Speedway serves as the proverbial horse and carriage for the Cinderellas of racing. And there has been no bigger Cinderella story than Big Willie Mullins, who scored his first career ARCA Menards Series pole for Friday night’s Hard Rock Bet 200 at Daytona.
“I can’t [believe it]. It’s a dream come true,” Mullins said after strolling back to his garage stall following qualifying.
The native of Fredericksburg, VA, and his Mullins Racing team made their ARCA Menards Series debut back in 2008, and in the rough and tumble world of auto racing, where big money drives big results, Mullins has done the best he can with what he’s had for years. The thing is, he never really had much. Until Friday at Daytona.
“10 years worth of work building cars, it’s taken 10 years finding the right people, getting this car — this car was a second-and-a-half slower last year with the other driver in it,” Mullins explained. “I brought [crew chief] Kevin Reed this year to make sure it was where it needed to be, and we just put it on the pole. That just shows you that we have the equipment. It just took the right people and the right timing to get it all done.”
The qualifying run speaks to the strength of the Mullins Racing team. Mullins defeated mega teams like Venturini Motorsports, and even Australian Supercars legend Shane van Gisbergen failed to make the field for Friday night’s race. While the significance of his qualifying run is huge, Mullins says he won’t fully understand how major it is until later.
“It’ll soak in here in a little bit. We’re just blessed to be able to come here. Be in the Menards Series. It’s a great series. It gave a little guy a chance,” Mullins stated as tears began to flow. “It’s just emotional.”
An emotional Willie Mullins is so proud of his team and happy he was able to persevere through health issues with loved ones to get to this moment today, where he collected his first career #ARCA pole. pic.twitter.com/3eZZXh0b2X
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 16, 2024
The emotion showed by Mullins was raw, and real. But there is more going on behind the scenes for the driver and his family. The Mullins family suffered through tragedy and health issues over the offseason, and up until a few weeks before this race, they weren’t sure if they would run the season-opening race.
Ultimately, Mullins and his wife Dinah made the decision to journey down to Daytona Beach with hopes that it would pay off.
“It does. Absolutely [it paid off],” Mullins stated with emphasis. “With all of the struggles we have going on with health issues, things like that. This is awesome. I can’t believe it. We did it.”
ARCA Menards Series Hard Rock Bet 200 Qualifying Results
| Pos. | No. | Name | Sponsor | Lap time | Diff | Speed | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Willie Mullins | Corvetteparts.net/Crow Wing Recycling Ford | 48.982 | -- | 183.741 | 2 |
| 2 | 27 | Tim Richmond | Richmond Racing Toyota | 49.003 | 0.021 | 183.662 | 3 |
| 3 | 20 | Jake Finch* | Phoenix Construction Toyota | 49.024 | 0.042 | 183.584 | 3 |
| 4 | 25 | Toni Breidinger | Celsius Toyota | 49.044 | 0.062 | 183.509 | 3 |
| 5 | 36 | Ryan Huff | Southeastern Services Ford | 49.06 | 0.078 | 183.449 | 3 |
| 6 | 30 | Justin Bonsignore* | Hard Rock Bet | 49.108 | 0.126 | 183.270 | 3 |
| 7 | 68 | Gil Linster* | HOOSH.com Ford | 49.703 | 0.721 | 181.076 | 3 |
| 8 | 75 | Bryan Dauzat | Brother-in-Law Racing Chevrolet | 49.708 | 0.726 | 181.057 | 3 |
| 9 | 34 | Issac Johnson* | Endress & Hauser Ford | 49.734 | 0.752 | 180.963 | 3 |
| 10 | 97 | Jason Kitzmiller | A.L.L Construction Chevrolet | 49.735 | 0.753 | 180.959 | 3 |
| 11 | 15 | Kris Wright | F.N.B Corporation Toyota | 49.738 | 0.756 | 180.948 | 3 |
| 12 | 11 | Bryce Haugeberg* | Karcher/Brenco Toyota | 49.741 | 0.759 | 180.937 | 3 |
| 13 | 2 | Andres Perez | Max Siegal Inc Chevrolet | 49.743 | 0.761 | 180.930 | 3 |
| 14 | 7 | Jeff Scofield* | JXT Transport Chevrolet | 49.787 | 0.805 | 180.770 | 3 |
| 15 | 18 | Tanner Gray | Dead On Tools Toyota | 49.795 | 0.813 | 180.741 | 3 |
| 16 | 4 | Dale Quarterley | Van Dyk Recycling Services/Motul Arai Chevrolet | 49.797 | 0.815 | 180.734 | 3 |
| 17 | 7 | Eric Caudell | RYDIN/Coble Enterprises/Red Tine Canopies Toyota | 49.805 | 0.823 | 180.705 | 3 |
| 18 | 93 | Caleb Costner* | Lickety Lew’s/Heritage Water Systems Chevrolet | 49.806 | 0.824 | 180.701 | 3 |
| 19 | 44 | Thomas Annunziata* | Nerd Focus Chevrolet | 49.822 | 0.840 | 180.643 | 3 |
| 20 | 32 | Christian Rose | West Virgina Tourism Ford | 49.825 | 0.843 | 180.632 | 3 |
| 21 | 8 | Sean Corr | Empire Racing Chevrolet | 49.841 | 0.859 | 180.574 | 3 |
| 22 | 35 | Greg Van Alst | Zaki Ali Injury & Criminal Attorney ZakiAli.com | 49.845 | 0.863 | 180.560 | 3 |
| 23 | 62 | Steve Lewis Jr.* | Telco Construction/Jeffery Machine Chevrolet | 49.86 | 0.878 | 180.505 | 3 |
| 24 | 8 | Patrick Emerling | Southern Tier Security Ford | 49.951 | 0.969 | 180.177 | 3 |
| 25 | 55 | Gus Dean | Dean Custom Air Toyota | 49.975 | 0.993 | 180.090 | 3 |
| 26 | 17 | Marco Andretti* | Group 1001 Chevrolet | 49.987 | 1.005 | 180.047 | 3 |
| 27 | 13 | Armani Williams | Blue Sprig Toyota | 50.029 | 1.047 | 179.896 | 3 |
| 28 | 22 | Amber Balcaen | ICON Direct Toyota | 50.31 | 1.328 | 178.891 | 3 |
| 29 | 63 | John Aramendia* | 1st Call Plumbing Heating & Air Chevrolet | 50.311 | 1.329 | 178.887 | 3 |
| 30 | 69 | Scott Melton | Melton McFadden Insuracne/Donna’s Donuts Ford | 50.313 | 1.331 | 178.880 | 3 |
| 31 | 74 | Mandy Chick* | Dynamic Drivelines/FK Rod Ends/Fragola Perf Chevrolet | 50.398 | 1.416 | 178.579 | 3 |
| 32 | 6 | Lavar Scott* | Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet | 50.41 | 1.428 | 178.536 | 3 |
| 33 | 2 | Leland Honeyman Jr.* | Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet | 50.422 | 1.440 | 178.494 | 3 |
| 34 | 73 | Andy Jankowiak | V1 Fiber Ford | 50.534 | 1.552 | 178.098 | 3 |
| 35 | 28 | Shane Van Gisbergen* | Pinnacle Motorsports Chevrolet | 50.927 | 1.945 | 176.724 | 3 |
| 36 | 99 | Michael Maples* | Don Ray Petroleum LLC/Maples Motorsports Chevrolet | 51.299 | 2.317 | 175.442 | 3 |
| 37 | 12 | Ryan Roulette* | VFW Ford | 51.309 | 2.327 | 175.408 | 3 |
| 38 | 95 | Brayton Laster* | MAN Motorsports Toyota | 51.374 | 2.392 | 175.186 | 3 |
| 39 | 10 | Ed Pompa | HYTORC of New York | 51.661 | 2.679 | 174.213 | 3 |
| 40 | 87 | Charles Buchanan | Spring Drug Ford | 52.042 | 3.060 | 172.937 | 3 |
| 41 | 57 | Hunter Deshautelle* | Brother-In-Law Motorsports Chevrolet | 52.331 | 3.349 | 171.982 | 3 |
| 42 | 1 | Takuma Koga* | Macnica/CKB Fast Track High Performace Toyota | 52.333 | 3.351 | 171.976 | 3 |
| 43 | 3 | Alex Clubb | Race Parts Liquidators Ford | 52.615 | 3.633 | 171.054 | 2 |
| 44 | 88 | A.J. Moyer | Rivers’s Edge Cottages & RV Park/Ampere EV Chevrolet | 52.656 | 3.674 | 170.921 | 3 |
| 45 | 6 | Tommy O’Leary IV | Peterson Motorsports Ford | 53.719 | 4.737 | 167.538 | 3 |
| 46 | 47 | Becca Monopoli* | Mixon Motorsports Toyota | 54.116 | 5.134 | 166.309 | 2 |
| 47 | 31 | Mitch Gibson* | backthelane.com Chevrolet | 54.892 | 5.910 | 163.958 | 3 |
| 48 | 98 | Dale Shearer | Shear Speed Toyota | 55.408 | 6.426 | 162.431 | 3 |
| 49 | 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorports Ford | 56.317 | 7.335 | 159.810 | 3 |
| 50 | 86 | Cody Dennison* | Toolganizer Ford | 58.535 | 9.553 | 153.754 | 2 |
