Gus Dean (No. 32 Gree Cooling Products/Baker Distributing Chevrolet) started off celebraing his 24th birthday by winning his second consecutive ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards General Tire Pole Award. He set the fast lap in qualifying for this afternoon’s Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fair at 33.836 seconds/106.396 miles per hour.
Zane Smith (No. 41 LaPaz Margarita Mix/ICON Vehicle Dynamics Toyota) will start alongside on the front row after turning a lap of 33.839/106.386, just 0.003 seconds off Dean’s pole winning pace. Chase Purdy (No. 8 Bama Buggies Toyota) was third at 33.891/106.223, Logan Seavey (No. 20 Craftsman Toyota) was fourth at 33.968/105.982, and Sheldon Creed (No. 28 United Rentals Toyota) rounded out the top five at 34.148/105.423.
Joe Graf, Jr. (No. 77 Big Tine Ford), Ryan Unzicker (No. 24 RJR Transportation Toyota), Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota), Kelly Kovski, and Riley Herbst (No. 18 NOS Energy Drink/ORCA Coolers Toyota) round out the top ten starters.
Last year’s winning crew chief Kelly Kovski (No. 16 Schluckerbier Farm Chevrolet), who is making his return to ARCA competition after suffering severe injuries while spectating at a sprint car race in Florida in February of 2016, will start ninth after a lap of 34.324/104.883. Kovski served as Grant Enfinger’s crew chief last year; Enfinger is returning the favor this year and will call the race for Kovski from atop the pit box.
The Allen Crowe 100 is set for a 2:30 pm ET/1:30 pm CT green flag and will be televised live on MAVTV. ARCARacing.com will have live timing, scoring, race updates, and scanner audio for registered users.
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