In a wild ARCA race at Talladega Super Speedway, tire troubles were the talk of the day. Both championship contenders, Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., suffered tire trauma during the race. Almost every lap was punctuated by a blown tire, sometimes affecting multiple other cars and a few causing the "big" wrecks.
Coming into Talladega, Scott Speed led the points battle by sixty points. Prior to the race, Speed admitted that it was "survival at this point". He wanted to focus on "not doing anything stupid" and vowed to avoid "getting in someone else's accident".
Motocross "GOAT" (Greatest Of All Time), Ricky Carmichael, was also set to make his first ARCA start. Carmichael has been doing well in the Camping World East series, currently eighth in points for the season with one race to go. Carmichael, driving for Kevin Harvick Inc., said that he was "definitely anxious" and just wanted "to learn and to gain respect and to get ready for next year".
James Buescher had secured the pole position and led the field to the green flag. Inexplicably, he quickly dropped below the yellow line at the start of the race. Apparently, he had lost third gear, a problem that would plague him throughout the race, eventually ending his day.
On Lap 12, the first "big one" occurred when Brian Scott blew his right rear tire, the first of many tire issues throughout the race. Over a dozen cars were involved in the wreck, taking many good cars out of contention.
After the clean up, Tom Hessert III led the race, followed nose to tail by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Scott Speed. The order was shuffled up after pit stops, however, Stenhouse and Speed stuck closely together throughout most of the race.
But tire trouble was just around the corner and this time it bit Ricky Carmichaels. His right rear tire blew dramatically, causing another spin and caution.
Then on Lap 60, the big tire trouble began for the championship contenders. First, Stenhouse, Jr. blew a right rear tire, almost going airborne after wrecking with several other cars.
While his team, including Cup driver Tony Stewart, scrambled to repair the severely damaged race car, it appeared that the championship battle with Scott Speed was over.
Then, unbelievably, with 26 laps to go in the race, tire trauma came to visit Scott Speed, spinning him around, causing him to graze the wall. It was time for yet another team to scramble to repair a very badly damaged race car.
The battle for the championship then shifted to the pits, as the Speed and Stenhouse, Jr. teams worked furiously to try to get their cars back on the track to stay in points contention.
With ten laps to go, Joey Logano, in his number 15 Interstate Batteries car, assumed the lead. Justin Allgaier was in second, and Frank Kimmel was in third. The battered cars of Speed and Stenhouse, Jr. were well back, just trying to log laps.
6 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
S M Napier 9 months ago
Excellent ARCA recap Mary Jo. Wow, it was like being at the track watching the action and can breath a little easier that "the Speed Demon's" still leading the points going into Toledo. Have to say it's point battles like the ARCA Re/Max and CTS, that the chase hasn't grown on me yet.
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Mary Jo Buchanan 9 months ago
Thanks - it was a VERY exciting race - almost as exciting as Cup practice today. Yes, our Speed Demon is still in the lead but the last race will be critical. I agree, these points battles are really where it's at!
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Crabber 1967 . 9 months ago
I got off work early enough to see the last part of the ARCA race, and was surprised to see Tony Stewart working with the crew of Stenhouse since the car was a Ford! I wonder if Tony will be getting a memo from GM in the near future, considering he's going back to Chevy next year. It was, however, great to see Tony having a good time!
I wonder if Hoosier will get as much flak about the tire "issues" as Goodyear got after Indy!??
Justin Allgaier said in Victory Lane that it was the first time he drove a Dodge. I wonder if Penske has this good looking kid on the way to Cup?
Nice work, Mary Jo!
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Mary Jo Buchanan 9 months ago
Apparently, Stenhouse drove USAC for Tony's team, hence the connection. Tony was in his glory wasn't he??!!
This may be Hoosier's Indy.....am also a little concerned about the Goodyear rubber for Sunday's race as well......with Jr.'s blown tire in practice and all these tire issues in ARCA, just feels like something not quite right is going on here.
Justin is an up and comer - we will need to keep an eye on him for sure.
Thanks Crabber - hope you're doing well.
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Rob Tiongson 9 months ago
That is great to see with Justin! He was often a visitor on a comic site/board I used to be a member of called The Pits. I think he had an awful accident when a part of his car broke and went through his hand. Good to see him progress and become a winner in the ARCA ranks. He's definitely someone we all need to watch with all the hype on guys like Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.
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Mary Jo Buchanan 9 months ago
Rob, that's cool that you "know" him. Had not heard about his accident. You should write about this!
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