JOLIET IL (Sept. 6, 2008) – Young gun Scott Lagasse, Jr., driving for the hometown Venturini Motorsports team, held off ARCA RE/MAX Series powerhouse Ford of Roush-Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Red Bull ace Scott Speed in an exciting two-lap shoot-out to win the ARCA 200 Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway.
The race started off rough as Roush-Fenway’s other driver, John Wes Townley’s Ford made heavy impact with the front stretch wall near the start finish line after contact with Billy Leslie. It was an embarrassing moment for the track safety crew as ARCA Series officials made them come back and lay more oil dry over the area where Townley’s radiator deposited a copious amount of coolant.
Five other cautions slowed the action during the event which saw four women taking part. Alli Owens finished the best of the four with a 12th place result.
Stenhouse led the most laps with 67, followed by Speed (51) and Lagasse led 18 which included the final 14.
“I knew we had one shot,” said Lagasse when asked about leading Stenhouse to the line on the final restart. “I knew that if he broke free I would have to catch him and run him down. I was a little concerned because I didn’t want to give up the track position. For four days of work on the Venturini’s part, I am very impressed. It’s neat for me to come here and win; and for them, it’s special because it’s their hometown.”
Speed the former F-1 driver came home third after a hard fought side-by-side battle with Justin Allgaier on the last lap, “It was a tough race, the car was okay for five laps and then would get really unstable so we did the best we could with what we had today. We have four races left and we just need to focus on bringing the best cars to the track.” Allgaier, in the Larry Moore wrenched Chevrolet, settled for fourth as Jesse Smith ended up fifth.
Race Results FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 1 2 25 Scott Lagasse Jr./St. Augustine FL Nicholson Group-Hamptons Luxury Homes Chevrolet 136 Running 2 1 99 Ricky Stenhouse Jr./Olive Branch MS Aflac Ford 136 Running 3 4 2 Scott Speed/Manteca CA Red Bull Toyota 136 Running 4 16 16 Justin Allgaier/Springfield IL Hoosier Midwest-AG Tech-Auto Xpress Chevrolet 136 Running 5 15 30 Jesse Smith/Wildwood MO Lloyd’s BBQ-Spam-Hormel-Jones Group Dodge 136 Running 6 28 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL Nortrax-Shell Rotella T Chevrolet 136 Running 7 6 48 Ben Stancill/Ayden NC TRG Motorsports-Dolci vita Chevrolet 135 Running 8 3 20 Justin Lofton/Westmorland CA Lofton Cattle Dodge 135 Running 9 18 3 Jeremy Clements/Spartanburg SC 1 Stop Convenience Stores Chevrolet 135 Running 10 12 22 Ken Butler III/Lilburn GA Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine Toyota 135 Running 11 8 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ford Drive One-Kimmel Racing Ford 135 Running 12 9 46 Matt Carter/Denver NC Stine Seed Ford 135 Running 13 32 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 135 Running 14 7 18 Billy Leslie/Mt. Clemens MI Titan Tires & Wheels Ford 134 Running 15 11 12 Alli Owens/Daytona Beach FL ElectrifyingCareers.com-NECA-IBEW Chevrolet 134 Running 16 29 66 Bryan Reffner/Stevens Points WI Hendren Motor Sports Chevrolet 133 Running 17 20 90 Gabi DiCarlo/Phoenix AZ Great Clips Toyota 133 Running 18 40 77 Todd Hansen/Farmington MN Mad Croc Energy Drink-America Inn Chevy 133 Running 19 41 68 Jennifer Jo Cobb/Kansas City KS Better Black TV Dodge 132 Running 20 30 38 Dominick Casola/Holmdel NJ Quaker Steak & Lube Dodge 132 Running 21 31 23 Donny Kelley/Humble TX Porter Glass Chevrolet 130 Running 22 13 75 Clay Rogers/Mooresville NC Healthation-Bob Schacht Motorsports Chevrolet 129 Running 23 36 26 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI CCM Mold Ford 129 Running 24 27 85 Lance Fenton/Tyler TX Fenton Auto Group-Rocketman FBO Dodge 129 Running 25 33 84 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA Rendel’s Collision Service Chevrolet 127 Running 26 24 15 Bill Conger/Woodbridge VA CGS Premier Chevrolet 120 Running 27 23 37 Dexter Bean/Westby WI Glock Chevrolet 112 Engine 28 17 45 Michael Phelps/Suwanee GA Bowen Family Homes-Ideal Interiors Dodge 112 Accident 29 26 70 Amber Cope/Puyallup WA Starr E Entertainment Dodge 107 Running 30 21 1 Tom Hessert III/Cherry Hill NJ Maaco Auto Painting America’s Body Shop Ford 105 Engine 31 14 60 Patrick Sheltra/Indiantown FL Ferguson Pipe-FloraGanics Dodge 78 Engine 32 22 7 AJ Henriksen/Mooresville NC ECC Toyota 59 Suspnsn 33 35 24 Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 45 Engine 34 37 06 Tim Mitchell/Fayetteville TN Star Wheels Skate Center Chevrolet 39 Tranmssn 35 39 94 Jason Basham/Henryville IN Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet 28 Overhtng 36 10 32 James Buescher/Plano TX Mercedes Homes-Red Line Oil Dodge 26 Engine 37 25 29 Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY Fannon & Rice Cable Construction Dodge 20 Accident 38 38 14 James Hylton/Inman SC Belmont-Hylton Dodge 18 Driveshaft 39 19 4 Tayler Malsam/Seattle WA Dodge Development-Firedown Graphics Dodge 6 Engine 40 5 09 John Wes Townley/Watkinsville GA Zaxby’s-SPS-BB&T Ford 1 Accident 41 34 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Anti Monkey Butt Powder Chevrolet 0
Engine
SIM FACTORY POLE AWARD: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 29.995 (180.030 mph) *NTR
MRGN OF VICT: .308 seconds CAUTIONS: 6 for 43 laps TIME OF RACE: 1:57:18
AVG SPEED: 104.347 mph
Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.
← Previous Story This Week In ARCA Next Story → ARCA Insider