FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. (March 19, 2003) -- Ryan Arciero will climb the next rung of the NASCAR ladder on Saturday, March 22 when he makes his debut with the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour Series at the Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield, Calif. After a successful rookie season in the Ultra Wheel Super Truck Series with seven pole positions and three victories, Arciero is ready to take this next step. “I can’t believe how big of a difference these cars are compared to the Ultra Wheels Super Trucks," explained Arciero after a recent 50-lap test session. "You have horsepower coming out of the corners and can feel so much more of the movement of the car. As a driver, I felt more apart of the vehicle, which was awesome. In my short time in the car and on the track, I became pretty comfortable with the car and could understand and read what it was doing."
Arciero will be racing the Steve Smith #8 Andreini & Company Chevrolet at the Mesa Marin 200-lap event. The race will include a pit stop for fuel and a tire change. Some of the best drivers in NASCAR’s Elite Division are scheduled to compete this weekend. “We first have to have a good qualifying run to make it in the field," Arciero said. "Since this is our first race of the season and first in the tour, we do not have any provisional points to fall back on if we have a bad qualifying run. It is going to be tough, but I know we can do it. We are just going to have to qualify well, and then keep our nose clean during the race and let the race come to us.”
The NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour Series is one of NASCAR’s Elite Divisions of its Touring Series. This will be round two of a 14-race series, and will be a support race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which will race on the same track on Sunday.
For more information on the race, please visit www.ryanarciero.com, or www.mesamarin.com, for a complete schedule of this weekends event.
