The ARCA Menards Series went short-track racing Saturday night at Elko Speedway for the Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy Paints. Twenty entries showed up for the 250-lap event with all cars making the field.
William Sawalich paced practice Saturday afternoon with a lap of 14.558s / 92.733 mph. Isabella Robusto, Lavar Scott, Kris Wright, and Andres Perez sat in the top five.
Qualifying began not long afterward with Sawalich scoring the pole with a quick time of 14.393 seconds / 93.796 mph – earning his sixth pole of the season. The top five starters included Kris Wright, Isabella Robusto, Lavar Scott, and Andres Perez.
The No. 2 team of Perez made unapproved adjustments after qualifying and had to go to the rear of the field for the start.
The cars lined the front stretch with the green flag waving just after 8:00 p.m. CT with Sawalich and Wright upfront. Sawalich, chasing his fifth ARCA victory of 2024, cleared for the lead.
Sawalich led through the first caution period on lap three as Amber Balcaen went around in turn one. The field returned to green flag action at lap 10 – with the driver of the No. 18 quickly clearing with the lead.
Caution returned at lap 84 involving the No. 31 of Rick Redig-Tackman on the backstretch. This created a fun restart with Sawalich and Scott racing for the lead at lap 93.
Scott later nosed Sawalich for the lead back to the line with Sawalich rebounding to retake the spot completing lap 94. He would survive the next yellow and restart to lead the next 54 circuits.
Then chaos broke loose at the front of the field when the lapped No. 99 of Michael Maples tagged race leader Sawalich into turn one. Sawalich managed to stay on the lead lap and ride out the second segment of the race to make repairs during the second race break at lap 175. The incident allowed Lavar Scott to take the lead.
Scott commanded the restart following the second break at lap 175 and led comfortably until Ryan Roulette brought the yellow flag out at lap 234. This created an interesting scenario as Sawalich had just passed Wright for the runner-up spot.
Light rain briefly made an appearance as well as lightning off in the distance creating a challenging situation for ARCA race officials. Eventually, the field got the one-to-go signal and went green with seven circuits left.
Scott had a solid restart and was quickly off with the lead.
Sawalich challenged Wright for the runner-up spot and eventually passed the No. 15 Toyota. It was now all about catching the No. 6 of Scott – seeking his first career ARCA victory.
Sawalich took the lead from Scott with two circuits remaining at Elko with Wright in tow.
Sawalich took the white flag and then it was all chaos! Will it be Sawalich? Will it be Scott? Or will it be Wright? They get three wide off turn four and edging by a nose was Sawalich over Scott in a photo finish at the line. Wright went spinning toward the inside wall due to contact.
Scott placed second followed by Wright, Robusto, and Perez to round out the top five.
E.J. Tomayo, Toni Breidinger, Sean Hingorani, Greg Van Alst, and Christian Rose finished top 10.
The series heads next to the 2.0-mile Michigan International Speedway for the Henry Ford Health 200. It will air live on FS1 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written forracingonfuel.comandtheracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes formotorsportsnat.comandTracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter@NASCAR_Brett.
- Delaware NASCAR Canada Series Race Rundown - September 8, 2024
- NASCAR Announces XFINITY Penalties Following Daytona - August 28, 2024
- Connor Zilisch Wins Thrilling Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan - August 16, 2024