Apex Racing School Rookie Shootout

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The Apex Racing School Rookie Shootout was an annual FARC Elite Series pre-season exhibition race open only to the members of that season's rookie class.

It is the successor race to the pre-season Smash Beer Shootout, an event for pole winners from the previous season.

The race format was duplicated by the Dash Cup series, which holds its annual Rookies Only Race.

History[edit | edit source]

2009-2010: Daytona International Speedway[edit | edit source]

The first iteration of the Rookie Shootout was held in 2009. Future TM Master Cup driver and former RROL champion Woody Watts drew the pole (this race's polesitter, and all future ones, were determined by random draw), with Lucas Sweeney on his outside.

Several future (and former) TM Master Cup drivers were also in the field, including Matt Taylor, Marcos Leonard, and Packer Carroll.

Seiju Dejao would win the race, and earned himself a free spot in the the season-opening race as a result.

The 2010 running was marred by a massive wreck caused by the slower car of Ricky Gonzalez. Rachel Gonzalez won the race, earning herself a spot in the 2010 Daytona 200.

2011: Texas Motor Speedway[edit | edit source]

With the season-opening race shifted away from Daytona to the shorter Texas Motor Speedway, the Rookie Shootout did likewise. The Elite Series also switched to a dual-race format for the 2011 season, meaning the carrot of a guaranteed starting spot in the season-opener to the race winner no longer applied. ARLA instead offered a bonus of 25 championship points to the winner, an incentive that remains to this day.

Jacob Eichholtz won the only running of the Shootout at this racetrack.

2012: Dallas Speedpark[edit | edit source]

The 2012 running of the Shootout marked the first (and so far, only) time the event did not correspond with the season-opening race, as a tornado that hit the Dallas Speedpark in between the Shootout and the 2012 Smash Beer 400 forced the relocation of the season opener to Daytona. The Smash Beer 400 was rescheduled and eventually moved to the Lone Star Supercell in Houston.

Ashley Tucker won the race.

2013: USA International Speedway[edit | edit source]

The Shootout shifted to the USA International Speedway for 2013. This race held the distinction of fielding the largest number of cars to date (thirty), and also saw the first time a polesitter won the race, as former TM Lights driver Jim Hayes pulled off the feat.

The race was also the first time a race team, Tom Delgado Racing, had won the event twice.

2014-2015: Texas World Speedway[edit | edit source]

In 2014 the Shootout would move to the Texas World Speedway where Tammy Barnton took home the win. The Shootout returned to Texas World in 2015, where Bradley Carlisle ended up winning the event.

2016: Daytona International Speedway[edit | edit source]

The FARC season opener returned to Daytona in 2016, and thus the Rookie Shootout returned to its original venue. Thomas Tucker dominated the 26-car race to take the victory.

The Rookie Shootout was then dropped from the 2017 schedule, and it is unknown if it will return in the future.

Firsts[edit | edit source]

Previous winners[edit | edit source]

Year Entries Distance Laps Pole sitter
(determined by draw)
Winner Team Second place Third place
Races held at Daytona International Speedway
2009 25 80 miles
128.75 km
32 laps Woody Watts Seiju Dejao MRD Motorsports Nami Mura D.J. Daniels
2010 21 100 miles
160.934 km
40 laps Lucas Hunter Rachel Gonzalez Genesis Motorsports Joey Harrison Jack Lucas Samson
2016 26 50 miles
80.4672 km
20 laps Jackie Thompson Thomas Tucker Ashcroft Family Racing Max Schivilen Chuck Johnson
Races held at Texas Motor Speedway
2011 29 100.5 miles
161.739 km
67 laps Nico Petrov Jacob Eichholtz Eichholtz Autosport Rene Recamier Gary DeSouza
Races held at Dallas Speedpark
2012 25 87.5 miles
140.818 km
100 laps Kyle Gaffigan Ashley Tucker Riggs Motorsports Bill Tissom Jessica Graham
Races held at USA International Speedway
2013 30 56.25 miles
90.526 km
75 laps Jim Hayes Jim Hayes Tom Delgado Racing Robert Nelson Trey Ashby
Races held at Texas World Speedway
2014 23 100 miles
160.934 km
50 laps Ryan Barrett Tammy Barnton HQS Racing Jeremy Baker Reid Bullet
2015 19 60 miles
96.560 km
30 laps Trueman Ellison Bradley Carlisle Desert Star Motorsports Todd Rowe Riley Durbin