Austin Green conquers Charlotte Motor Speedway for his first ARCA Menards Series victory on Friday evening in the General Tire 150.
CONCORD, N.C. – Austin Green was not even born when his father, David, the 1994 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, claimed his lone ARCA Menards Series victory at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in what turned out to be his lone start on the platform.
Austin Green Victory at Charlotte
Over three decades later, Austin joined David as an ARCA Menards Series winner by putting together a dominant performance in the General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. With the triumph, Austin and David became the ninth father-son duo to visit Victory Lane in the ARCA Menards Series.
Austin was tasked with fending off an equally strong car in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota piloted by William Sawalich. By leaning on his spotter and working the clean air to his advantage, Austin pulled away to triumph in only his second national ARCA Menards Series appearance.
“Everyone at [Pinnacle Racing Group] built a rocket,” Austin said. “Hearing the gap and seeing [Sawalich] fall back was always a good feeling. They told me to slow down a little bit at the end. That was hard to do but hats off to everyone at PRG.”
The Green family has enjoyed plenty of success at Charlotte Motor Speedway during their time in NASCAR. Although David never won at Charlotte, Austin’s uncle Jeff prevailed at the facility twice in the Xfinity Series in 2001 and 2002, respectively.
Austin’s only experience at Charlotte before Friday’s General Tire 150 came on the complex’s short oval and Roval configuration. Along with making several Legends starts on both, Austin also had the chance to run an Xfinity Series race on the layout last year, where he placed 30th after losing an engine with 15 laps remaining.
Having developed a comfort zone on road courses through competing in the Trans Am Championship TA2 class, adjusting to larger ovals has been a learning curve for Austin. All four of Austin’s oval Xfinity Series starts saw him place outside the top 25. He also finished six laps down in the ARCA Menards Series East at Rockingham Speedway due to a mechanical issue.
Confidence with Pinnacle Racing Group and Learning Aero Strategy
Despite this, Austin’s familiarity with Charlotte’s other layouts gave him some optimism as he prepared for his first attempt on the big track. The consistency associated with PRG’s ARCA Menards Series program also boosted Austin’s confidence, as they already possessed two victories in 2025 with Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen.
Austin quickly adapted to his new environment and maintained track position inside the top five before cycling to the lead after a couple of restarts. Once he got out in front, Austin proceeded to dump dirty air on Sawalich’s car, which had sustained significant damage on his nose after hitting Cleetus McFarland during a restart.
Disrupting Sawalich’s momentum simply by taking away his clean air is an aspect of stock cars that Austin is still learning. He attributed aerodynamics to his struggles on oval tracks in the Xfinity Series but felt satisfied being in a position where he could manipulate other cars around him.
“The biggest thing for me with these big tracks is the aero,” Austin said. “Growing up on short tracks, you didn’t really have any of that, especially on road courses as well. That’s been the biggest hurdle for me this year. I’m slowly figuring it out and it was strategic to pack dirty air on those behind you and side draft. I had a blast.”
100th Start for ARCA Champion, Grant Enfinger
Austin had long pulled away from the field when Grant Enfinger found enough speed in the top groove to move into the second position. Driving in relief of Jason Kitzmiller, who was attending his daughter’s graduation ceremony, Enfinger delivered a strong outing for CR7 Motorsports in his 100th career ARCA Menards Series start.
The 2015 series champion enjoyed returning to his roots and contending for a victory on Friday evening. Enfinger was pleased with the speed of his No. 97 but felt his car needed to be looser to mount a challenge on Austin.
“We started in practice a little bit off and the [CR7 Motorsports] guys did a phenomenal job getting it on for the race. I felt like we had a contending car from the drop of the green flag, but not the best car. There were certain stints where I felt we had good speed, but then we got a little too tight.
“Overall, it was fun racing with these guys.”
Used to celebrating plenty of accomplishments in the ARCA Menards Series, Enfinger and the rest of the field at Charlotte were only witnesses to Austin’s first checkered flag so early into his career on the platform.
Winning Father-Son Duos in ARCA
The other father-son ARCA Menards Series winners Austin and David join include Bobby and Davey Allison, Jack and Bobby Bowsher, Jerry and Randy Churchill, Bob and Brian Keselowski, Bill and Frank Kimmel, Scott and Scott Lagasse Jr., Tracy and Billy Leslie, Kyle and Adam Petty, along with Bill and Billy Venturini.
Celebrating with David in Victory Lane only made Austin’s maiden win even more sentimental. It took plenty of patience and diligence for Austin to make it to Victory Lane in a major stock car race, but he is thrilled to continue a proud racing legacy started by David and his uncles Jeff and Mark.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Austin said. “I never really got to see dad race, because I wasn’t born yet. Being around [racing] growing up, it’s what I love to do. Obviously, it’s a dream of mine and hopefully we can keep progressing.
The General Tire 150 Results
Lavar Scott came away from Charlotte with a third-place finish. While capitalizing on a solid points day, his competitors, Queen and Lawless Alan, were hindered by separate issues. Sawalich and Andy Jankowiak completed the top five.
Andrew Patterson and his small team earned a sixth-place showing as the last car on the lead lap. The rest of the top ten comprised Thad Moffitt, Patrick Staropoli, McFarland, and Lanie Buice.
The ARCA Menards Series Point Standings
Lavar Scott takes over the series point standings by ten markers. Brenden Queen and Lawless are tied for second and third. Andy Jakowiack is fourth (-14) while Jason Kitzmiller is fifth (-51). Thad Moffitt and Alex Clubb finished in sixth and seventh. William Sawalich is eighth with only four out of five starts. Isabella Robusto and Michael Maples sit in the ninth and tenth place spots.
Up Next
The ARCA Menards Series heads to the two-mile paved oval of Michigan International Speedway on June 6. The Henry Ford Health 200 green flag waves at 6 p.m. ET that evening, with FS2 providing live flag-to-flag coverage.