(DAYTONA BEACH, FL) Winning at Daytona International Speedway regardless of the event, but winning your first ASRS race at Daytona is bigger than anything else.  Stephen Pearce experienced just that as he carried his brand new team to the Winner’s Circle.

The green flag flew with Ernest Smith, Jr. leading the field to the green alongside of Shawn Musick.  The race would go just two laps before the first caution would fly when the #78 of Zack Calloway spun off of turn two and collected Justin Vaughn’s #7 Toyota.  The race would stay green until lap 17 when Jim Foose spun collecting Ernest Smith, Jr. and Scotty Williamson.  Foose continued on with little damage to his #2, while Smith and Williamson were damaged  and required lengthy repairs.

The final caution flew on lap 33 as Cody Rose and Stephen Pearce made contact in the tri-oval, sending Rose up towards the wall and collecting Brandon Short.  The restart that ensued showcased side by side racing, with no driver pulling away.  Eric Banneberg put his #00 Tide Camaro in the lead and had his teammate Foose pushing before Pearce moved into the middle.  As the field crossed the start-finish line for the two to go signal, Bannenberg’s #00 wiggled before spinning around and collecting Jason Kristen and Foose.  The crash allowed Pearce to drive away to a sizeable lead.  Cody Rose would come clear the incident to take over second.

Pearce took home his first win with Rose second, Foose limped around the track to finish third, followed by Don Runkle and Sam Collum to round out the top five.

The ASRS Xfinity Series returns to action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1st.  The Camping World Truck Series will race the next two Tuesday nights.  Registration is free of charge and remains open for both series.