Brandon Jones Wins ARCA Debut at Winchester

Photo - Turner Scott Motorsports on Twitter

Photo – Turner Scott Motorsports on Twitter


Rookie Brandon Jones made a last-lap pass on Mason Mitchell to win in his ARCA début at Winchester Speedway Sunday. The two drivers beat and bang until Jones came out on top with the checkered flag in sight.

Turner Scott Motorsports originally planned to put Jones in an ARCA car at Salem Speedway earlier this season, but a scheduling conflict postponed his début until Sunday. The 17-year-old driver competes full-time on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East circuit and is still looking for his first win in that series.

Mitchell once again came up short in his quest for his first ARCA win. This is his fourth runner-up finish in the last six races.

59-year-old Ken Schrader started on the pole and led most of the first half of the race. A caution bunched up the field and Schrader allowing Mitchell to pass him on lap 186. Schrader will look to break his own record as the oldest ARCA winner sometime later this season.

There were a few incidents on the day, including a first-lap crash that took out Anderson Bowen and Kyle Weatherman. Josh Williams also found the same bad luck with a wreck around the half-way mark.

On the flip side, Justin Boston found some good luck and finished third, while Schrader and Grant Enfinger round out the top-five. 

All four Venturini Motorsports entries placed inside the top-eight, while the top-two finishers from last year’s race at Winchester, Frank Kimmel and Austin Wayne Self, finished ninth and tenth.

The battle for the points lead between Mitchell and Enfinger will shift to the 1.5 mile Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks.

Herr’s Chase the Taste 200 Top-Ten

#4 Brandon Jones
#98 Mason Mitchell
#25 Justin Boston
#52 Ken Schrader
#90 Grant Enfinger
#66 J.J. Haley
#55 Cody Coughlin
#15 John Wes Townley
#44 Frank Kimmel
#22 Austin Wayne Self

Montoya Returns to IndyCar Victory Lane at Pocono

IndyCar-Pocono

Photo – Kyle Magda

Juan Pablo Montoya is back in victory lane as an IndyCar driver after Sunday’s Pocono IndyCar 500.

When Tony Kanaan had to pit for fuel with three laps to go, Montoya headed to his first CART/IndyCar victory since Gateway in September 2000. Continue reading

Gabby Chaves Takes Pocono Indy Lights 100

Photo - Kyle Magda

Photo – Kyle Magda

Gabby Chaves picked up where he left off in practice by dominating the Pocono Indy Lights 100 Saturday.

Chaves cruised to a 7.7 second margin of victory over his closest competitor in points, Andretti Autosport driver Zach Veach.  The win put the icing on the cake for the Indy Lights points leader Continue reading

Flashback Friday – IndyCar Says Goodbye to Pocono for 24 Year

Photo - IndyCar

Photo – IndyCar

 

IndyCar always made an annual stop to the 2.5 mile Pocono Raceway from 1971 to 1989. The series and Pocono decided to split after the 1989 race and it wouldn’t be until 2013 when IndyCar made a return to the Tricky Triangle.

With many differences today at Pocono vs. 1989, Marco Andretti set the current IndyCar track qualifying record with a two-lap average of 221.273-mph last July. Emerson Fittipaldi set the previous track record at 211.715-mph, before the track was re-paved twice in 1995 and 2012. Continue reading

Throwback Thursday – Spencer Nips Irvan at the Line for First Cup Win

Photo - Racing One/Getty Images

Photo – Racing One/Getty Images

 

The first half of the 1994 Winston Cup season the black cars dominated.  Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan together had 11 wins in the season’s first 14 races.

Wallace was on a three-race winning streak heading into the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.  The Missouri driver’s luck at the track has been short of disastrous. Continue reading