Carmichael at Daytona to add stock cars to portfolio

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Ricky Carmichael has raced motorcycles and sports cars at Daytona International Speedway.

This weekend, Carmichael, a five-time Daytona Supercross By Honda champion, added stock cars to the list as he participated in the three-day ARCA Re/Max Series test in preparation for Speedweeks 2009.

"This is what it's all about. When you hear about Daytona, it's stock-car racing," Carmichael said. "I'm having a great time here. This race track has a lot of character and a lot of history. This is what I want to do. I've been around here in a sports car and obviously a motorcycle a time or two. I'm just glad to be in a stock car. This is a dream of mine and I'm glad to have the opportunity to do that."

Carmichael, who has retired from Supercross and is now pursuing a NASCAR career, is a Supercross and Motocross legend and is nicknamed G.O.A.T -- the Greatest Of All Time.

In October, he tested the speedway's 3.56-mile road course as he considered an attempt to compete in the upcoming Rolex 24 At Daytona sports-car classic with Sprit of Daytona Racing.

This weekend, he is testing a Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. in advance of the season-opening Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA race on Feb. 7.

Carmichael, who most recently competed in the NASCAR Camping World East Series for Ken Schrader Racing, has signed with KHI and plans to compete full time in the Camping World Truck Series in 2009.

"We're really close," said Carmichael about sponsorship for his Truck Series season, which will start with a 250-mile race at Daytona on Feb. 13. "I've got a good feeling about it. Obviously, it'd be good if it's a 100 percent done but I feel really, really good about it. That's the plan."

During this weekend's test, Carmichael is getting acclimated to the 2.5-mile tri-oval and using the ARCA race as a tune-up in advance of the 250-mile Truck race.

"We want to obviously get the car as fast as we can for qualifying and then drafting practice and see how the car drafts and make it handle as good as we can and do good in the actual race," Carmichael said of this weekend's testing goals. "For us, the main thing is going to be drafting practice and see how the car handles."

Carmichael posted top-20 speeds in both tests Saturday, clocking in 19th at 178.451 mph in the morning session and 16th at 181.514 mph in the afternoon.

In other drivers of note, Joey Logano posted the 11th-fastest speed at 179.644 mph in the morning session and was seventh overall at 181.925 mph in the afternoon. James Buescher, who posted one top-10 in six Nationwide starts and earned his first pole, at Memphis, was eighth-fastest at 181.892 mph in the afternoon session. Testing concludes Sunday.