Gil Linster has earned a license to race in the ARCA Menards Series after the Luxembourger completed the January Daytona test with the help of Kimmel Racing.
Gil Linster becomes the next NASCAR Whelen Euro Series driver to experience the high banks of Daytona International Speedway after the Luxembourger completed the traditional January ARCA Menards Series test at the famed 2.5 mile oval last weekend.
Linster, who finished third in the 2023 EuroNASCAR 2 championship, drove the red cladded No. 68 Ford Fusion that was entered by legendary ARCA outfit Kimmel Racing. He was joined by Kimmel’s regular drivers Scott Melton and Will Kimmel, who shared driving duties in the blue colored No. 69 Ford Fusion.
He is also one of the five international drivers to take part in the test. Competing alongside him are ARCA regulars Andres Perez de Lara, Takuma Koga and Amber Balcaen as well as rookie sensation and multiple-time V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen, who entered the test to earn his superspeedway license.
In a video that was posted by Kimmel Racing on 16 January, Linster revealed that the test was an intense one as his first two attempts of driving in the draft were foiled by incidents from other drivers in the pack.
“Super happy to be here!” exclaimed the 30-year old driver from Frisange. “I had my first laps in the draft and the first time around, I had someone just in front of me blowing up their engine, so that was tough. I was sliding on the oil for a little bit.”
“Later I went out for the second time, again in the draft, found a nice group to follow and then they just crashed, so I had my precautions already at left and right. Nice, nice job from the spotter [to guide me away from the incident].”
He later spoke about the feeling of driving at speeds of 300+ kph in Daytona, something that he described as “crazy fast”. He also noted that the speed difference only became noticeable when he encountered cars that ran into trouble.
“It’s crazy fast! When the pack passed me, it was not that crazy fast because you have close to the same speed, but as soon as you have cars in front spinning left and right, you see how fast you are,” notes Linster.
While the combined results only had Linster classified as the 36th fastest driver out of 76 entrants, it was enough for Linster to successfully earn his superspeedway license.
With a chance to enter next month’s Daytona ARCA 200 now in the cards, Linster will be working hard to ensure that he has enough funding to enter the race and achieve his dream of racing in one of America’s top stock car racing series.
“All in all, it’s amazing! The Kimmel family are amazing with helping me a lot and I hope to get the funds together for the Daytona 200!” concludes Linster, who is also still working to get a seat secured for the 2024 EuroNASCAR season.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.
Edit: The post has been edited on 18 January 2024 to correct the car model, which was incorrectly listed as Ford Mustang.
It’s a Ford Fusion, not a Mustang……
Thank you very much for noticing the mistake! We have edited the article to change the car body to the correct model.