NASCAR / ARCA /SRX Race Weekend Recap (Watkins Glen, Lucas Oil, Evergreen and Springfield Mile)
Winners: William Byron (Cup); Sam Mayer (Xfinity); Jesse Love (ARCA); Sean Hingorani (ARCA West); Brent Crews (ARCA Sunday) plus Jonathan Davenport (SRX)
NASCAR Cup
William Byron Wins Cup Series Race at Watkins Glen
William Byron added to his season highlight reel, earning his first career NASCAR Cup Series road-course victory with a dominant win in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen at historic Watkins Glen International.
It marks a career-best fifth victory of the season, tops in the NASCAR Cup Series and the most for him in a single season in a six-year career in NASCAR’s top series. And the 25-year-old Charlotte native had to earn this one — holding off another championship challenger, Denny Hamlin, by a healthy 2.632 seconds for the win. Byron led 66 of the 90 laps — extending his advantage over the field each lap of the final 10-lap run to the checkered flag.
“Yeah, I would have to think about that a little bit, though,” Byron said when asked if he felt like it was his most dominant race win. “But it definitely feels really good, just a huge credit to the race team behind me. I want to thank Max Papis. My first road-course win, and we worked years and years for this.
“Thanks to all the guys on the team. I did a lot of laps on iRacing this week, got a new simulator at home. It’s a great win. It shows when we’re at our best, we can perform like this.”
Pole: Denny Hamlin
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Next Race: The Cup Series will return on 08/26/203 for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR Xfinity
Sam Mayer outlasts field in OT, wins at Watkins Glen
JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer survived a full-contact afternoon at Watkins Glen International — contributing his own bump and run on the final restart to take the lead in overtime and hold off the field for his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win Saturday in the Shriners Children‘s 200 at The Glen.
Mayer‘s No. 1 JRM Chevrolet tagged the back of the day‘s most dominant driver and then-race leader Ty Gibbs, spinning Gibbs‘ No. 19 Toyota, which then collected a handful of other lead pack cars. The 21-year-old Wisconsin native pulled away from the mayhem behind and raced off to a .909-second victory over Richard Childress Racing‘s Sheldon Creed.
“On that first one, I got used up, thought I had a good one there‘‘ Mayer said of the two overtime restarts. “All glory to God for this one because we had to work our tails off for it.
“I wheel-hopped it, that‘s unfortunate, and I feel bad for doing that. Obviously, you don‘t want to take out any car like that,‘‘ Mayer added. “Just trying to get another win in the Xfinity Series. I‘ve got a lot of catching up to do. I was in there, I put my nose in there, and that‘s part of it.
“That‘s an accident, but I think everyone can agree it‘s okay for an Xfinity Series regular to win this race.”
Pole: Ty Gibbs
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Next Race: The Xfinity Series will return on 08/25/2023 for the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR Trucks
The Truck Series had an off week.
Pole: N/A
Click Here for Race Results – N/A
Next Race: The Truck Series will return on 08/27/2023 for the Clean Harbors 175 at Milwaukee Mile.
ARCA Series Triple Header Weekend
The ARCA Series ‘General Tire 100 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International’
Jesse Love’s eighth victory in the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season was simultaneously his most unpredictable.
Love only had one lap to pass race leader Connor Zilisch as a light rain began to fall around Watkins Glen International with five laps remaining. As the two reached the final turn, Love nudged Zilisch out of the groove to narrowly steal the win in Friday’s General Tire 100 at the Glen.
“Hats off to Connor Zilisch,” Love said. “I hope he doesn’t think [the bump] was dirty. It was borderline, but I had to do something. He left the door open for me to do something when he got into the rumble strips.
“Brent Crews and Connor Zilisch are two of the best up-and-coming race car drivers in the country right now and they put that on full display today.”
With his victory, Love continues to make ARCA Menards Series history by becoming the 13th driver to win four races in a row. Should he win the next two races, Love will break the all-time record that currently stands at five consecutive victories between Tim Steele, Bruce Gould, Jack Bowsher and Harold Smith.
Pole: Corey LaJoie
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Sean Hingorani Dominates at Evergreen, Earns 4th West Series Win of 2023
Despite entering the NAPA Auto Parts ARCA 150 at Washington’s Evergreen Speedway second in ARCA Menards Series West points behind rival Landen Lewis, Sean Hingorani had maintained confidence that he’s the favorite for the 2023 championship.
On Saturday night, the Venturini Motorsports driver proved why.
Hingorani at Evergreen picked up his fourth West Series win of the season, and he did so in dominating fashion. The 16-year-old from Newport Beach, California spent the first third of the 150-lap race on the 5/8-mile oval riding the back bumper of pole-sitter Tyler Reif before he made the pass for the lead on Lap 56.
Hingorani never looked back.
Pole: Tyler Reif
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The ARCA Series ‘Dutch Boy 100’ at Springfield Mile at Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Brent Crews Ends Jesse Love’s Four-Race Win Streak, Earns First Victory at Springfield
A bump-and-run on Love shortly after the final restart of the day was all Crews needed to pull away from the field during the Dutch Boy 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and win in just his second ARCA Menards Series start.
Crews is no stranger to finding Victory Lane on a dirt track but took great pride in earning his first series victory at a historic facility like the Springfield Mile.
“This is the highest-caliber stuff I’ve ever done,” Crews said. “Being able to win [at Springfield] means a lot, but I want to give all glory to God. None of this would be possible without him, [my crew chief] Monon [Rahman] and everyone at Venturini Motorsports that puts their hands on this thing to make it fast.”
Pole: Brent Crews
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Next Race: The ARCA Menards Series will return on 08/27/2023 for the Sprecher 150 at Milwaukee Mile.
Superstar Racing Experience
Davenport Proves Super Again, Winning Camping World SRX Thursday Night Thunder Finale at Lucas Oil Speedway In Front Of Big Crowd.
One of the biggest motorsports events in Ozarks-area racing history came to Lucas Oil Speedway on Thursday night and it did not disappoint - with a familiar face taking a trip to victory lane.
Jonathan Davenport, putting on a display worthy of his nickname of "Superman," led all 90 laps to capture the Camping World SRX Thursday Night Thunder season finale in front of an estimated 8,000 roaring fans and countless others watching on ESPN.
Davenport, one of the world premier Dirt Late Model drivers, won for the fifth time at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023 adding to four Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series/Lucas Oil MLRA wins. The Blairsville, Georgia, native emerged from a thrilling battle with Clint Bowyer after a restart with 10 laps remaining that had the big crowd on its feet.
Brad Keselowski rallied to finish second with Ken Schrader third and Ryan Newman, the 2023 Camping World SRX champion, taking fourth.
"I'm speechless. This is awesome," said Davenport, a five-time World 100 winner and three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion. "I was just out there pacing myself, trying to keep the edges on the tires and do dirt-guys stuff.
"Man, this is an awesome experience. Thanks so much to SRX for giving me this opportunity and a chance to come out here and race with some of my heroes, legends and superstars. I'm just an ol' country boy from Georgia that runs dirt cars."
Ryan Newman clinched the series championship before the feature race went green. He entered the night with a 39-point lead and finished 45 in front of the defending champ Andretti and Keselowski who tied for second.
"It means a lot," Newman said of the championship. "Any kind of championship in any series and the Superstar Racing Experience, what can you say? Guys like TOny Stewart. Jonathan Davenport, who's won everything on dirt. Racing against Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace, it's just a whole lot of fun. Castroneves, an Indy Car champion and four-time winner. It's very special."
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Next Race: The Superstar Racing Experience is done for 2023 – see y’all next year!
source: NASCAR Media
