General Tire Stock Car Weekly: March 16, 2022
Catch up on the latest news around the ARCA Menards Series every Wednesday with the General Tire Stock Car Weekly!
Get a $70 Visa prepaid card with the purchase of four qualifying passenger General tires from now through April 30, 2022. For more details visit: https://bit.ly/3sDL7YY
Last Week: Gray Honors Fallen Team Member With Phoenix Win
After the team suffered an unspeakable tragedy on the way to last week’s General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, David Gilliland Racing driver Taylor Gray scored his first career ARCA Menards Series win by holding off the field through a green-white-checkered finish. Gray’s #17 Ford carried the name of the late Steven Stotts, who passed away after a traffic accident in the team’s hauler on the way to the track from Charlotte, as well as the names of fellow team members John Zaverl and Michael Mizzelle, who were each injured in the crash.
Gray led 43 laps, but still needed to fight off GMS Racing’s Daniel Dye (who led 32) and Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Sammy Smith (who led a race-high 79) to score the victory. Those two completed the top three, with Rajah Caruth settling for fourth and Jake Drew, the highest-finishing West Series regular, completing the top five. The combination race for both the national and West Series drew an impressive 39 entries, with 16 of them finishing on the lead lap. The event also served as the opening round of the 2022 Sioux Chief Showdown, a 10-race series-within-a-series that runs shorter tracks and road courses to give younger drivers an opportunity to run for a championship of their own.
This Week: East Series Returns to Pensacola
The second round of the ARCA Menards Series East season sees the division head to Five Flags Speedway, home of the Snowball Derby each winter, for the Pensacola 200. The 200-lap race will take place on Saturday at 7PM ET, with practice at 2PM and qualifying to set the grid at 4:30PM. Opened in 1953, Five Flags is a high-banked and fast half-mile oval, with an abrasive surface well known for rewarding the drivers who can best manage their General tires throughout the race.
After a run of events in the mid-1990s, Five Flags returned to the ARCA schedule in 2019, before shifting to the East division in 2020. Michael Self won the 2019 event over Ty Gibbs, while Sam Mayer scored the victory in the East race the following year and Sammy Smith took the first win of his East title-winning season here last year after leading 145 laps. Smith also won the 2022 East season opener at New Smyrna Speedway last month.
Watch ARCA Racing
ARCA Menards Series races are shown live on FS1 (streamed live on the Fox Sports App) and on MAVTV (streamed live on FloRacing). Check local listings for more details.
Get a $70 Visa prepaid card with the purchase of four qualifying passenger General tires from now through April 30, 2022. For more details visit: https://bit.ly/3sDL7YY