Leilani Münter tested by James Hylton Motorsports
After receiving the call Monday afternoon that James Hylton Motorsports had a race car without a driver, the week was a mad rush to prepare for Leilani to drive Hylton Motorsports’ 2005 Ford Taurus. Münter fitted her La Joie racing seat into the car on Tuesday and only two days later, she was on her way to Daytona.
It was Leilani’s first time back in a stock car in two years. In 2007 Münter became the fourth woman in history to race in Indy Lights, the development league of IndyCar. It did not take Münter long to get back into the groove of stock car racing. When the team left the track at 3pm on Saturday they were listed 20th quick of 56 race cars testing with a speed of 179.551 mph.
“It feels great to be back into a stock car again," said Münter, “When we first hit the track, our springs were a bit too stiff in the front end so the car was not handling well over the bumps but my crew did a great job adjusting the car and by Saturday the car was handling well. It didn’t have a superspeedway body, it was a downforce car, so we are really happy with our results. When I come back to Daytona in February I will have a race car with everything we will need to go out there and run up front. This weekend was about getting back to the feel of a stock car. It felt really natural and I had so much fun out there. I think driving in Indy Lights has really helped me fine-tune giving feedback to my crew about what the race car is doing out there. I can’t wait to come back and race in February."
NASCAR legend James Hylton was Münter’s coach at the track, “Leilani did a great job out there. We were able to get some good data to prepare for the ARCA 200 and we can’t wait to see what she can do in the superspeedway car in February."
The Daytona ARCA 200 is scheduled for February 7th, the same day as the Sprint Cup Bud Shootout for the Daytona 500.