The final ARCA race of the season took place today at the short track in Toledo, Ohio. Short tracks always lead to short fuses but no one could have predicted the tempers that would flare on this sunny Sunday in October.
The ARCA championship battle was supposed to be waged this day. And the rivalry was predicted to be between NASCAR up-and-comers Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Scott Speed was indeed only running slightly ahead of Stenhouse, Jr. in the points standings. And one of these two racers was expected to claim the championship.
The trouble between the top contenders started early. On lap 29, Stenhouse, Jr. got into Speed, forcibly riding him hard into the wall. Stenhouse, Jr. stayed all over Speed's bumper until the hit, which resulted in heavy damage on the right side of Speed’s Red Bull car.
Stenhouse's driving was so aggressive that the ARCA officials warned him for his hard driving. Speed limped into pit lane, with his car askew and fuel leaking out of the back end of the car.
After spending time in the pits, Speed came back out onto the track. At first, it appeared that he was slowly making laps in his damaged car.
But Scott had another plan in mind. As soon as he saw the No. 99 car of Stenhouse, Jr., he tagged him, pushing Stenhouse into the outside wall.
Speed did as much damage to his own car, hitting the inside wall, resulting in smoke billowing from the engine. Scott hobbled out of the car, disgustedly throwing off his protective gear.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Both crews tried to repair the cars, but the ARCA officials ruled that Scott Speed was parked for the day, penalized for his retaliation, and could not return to the race. Speed left the track, being taken to a local hospital for evaluation after complaining of discomfort.
Stenhouse's crew worked feverishly to basically rebuild the race car from scratch just to get it back on the track to log laps. Ricky returned on lap 106 but basically limped around for the remainder of the race as a non-factor.
So, the championship battle was then handed down to two new drivers, young Justin Allgaier and seasoned veteran Frank Kimmel. The two ran in the top five for most of the remainder of the race.
David Ragan, fresh from his top ten finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Cup race last night, assumed the lead of the race. He then blew a tire, ending his hopes of a race win.
Justin Lofton in the number 20 car also ran strong all day. He assumed the lead after Ragan's troubles, only to see trouble of his own, tussling with another driver and spinning.
That left Justin Allgaier amazingly in the lead of the race, with Matt Crafton in second place and Frank Kimmel in the third position. With 16 laps to go, Crafton and Allgaier briefly traded the lead, with Allgaier prevailing.
With a few laps to go, the 12th caution of the day flew, setting up the final two laps of the race to the checkered flag. Justin Allgaier hit his marks, held his line, and finally took that checkered flag after one of the wildest races in all of ARCA history.
This was Allgaier's sixth win of the race season. He did not even realize that he had also won the championship as his team had been holding that detail back from him to keep him calm, cool and collected for the race finish.
The celebration then truly got underway. In Victory and Championship Lane, Justin Allgaier said there "were no words to describe" how he felt and that his "car was awesome".
He also wanted to "thank God" and his family who gave him the opportunity to be in Victory Laneand to claim the title of ARCA champion.
Veteran Cup driver, Kenny Schrader, was one of the first to congratulate young Allgaier on his accomplishments. He said that Justin "drove like a veteran," a high complement coming from one of the greatest racing veterans on the circuit.
Justin shared that he could not wait to go to the banquet to claim that championship trophy. And after that, he surely will not be able to contain his excitement as he moves up with the Penske organization to the next level in the Nationwide series.
Congratulations Justin Allgaier for your race win and your ARCA championship!
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about 1 month ago
I'll bet they don't seat Speed and Stenhouse next to each other at any banquets in the near future. I'm not usually one for such overt and over-the-top retaliation, but the way Stenhouse was pushing Speed around from the first few laps it was obvious he was out to get Speed.
If nothing else, Speed succeeded in his stated goal to make sure if he wasn't going to win because of Stenhouse's actions on the track, then he was going to make sure Stenhouse wasn't going to win. He definitely accomplished that.
Great recap of a most bizarre and unexpected race. Five stars and my pick of the day for the race of the day. I wonder how Kyle and Stremme are doing in the Winchester 400 in Indiana today...
from about 1 month ago
Brian, I agree - it was one of the weirdest races I've ever seen - most unexpected. But you're right Scott was not going to let Ricky win the championship in that way. Yeah, they will need to be far, far apart at the banquet - maybe one should sit out in the hallway just for good measure!!
from about 1 month ago
Hahaha they'll be sitting Stenhouse at the Kiddie table in a little chair.
about 1 month ago
Great recap, Mary Jo. I couldn't say it any better, you did a great job on it and know it had to be tough since we all where expecting the Speed Demon to bring it home winning the championship. Still can't believe Stenhouse drove like that, I really think it will effect his career like Brian feel it was intentionally done. Sad that he couldn't try to win the title by cleanly passing Speed and may the better driver win. Worse his team, a Roush-Fenway Racing team, where upset at Speed's retaliation and glad to see they put the anger to fixing the car.
Since ARCA did nothing, probably won't do anything to Stenhouse. NASCAR needs to sit down with the kid and have a heart to heart with him. Because Stenhouse seemed like he was better than what he showed today, at 20 years old they might just get through to him.
Before he gets to the Trucks or Nationwide does this, either causing a bad wreck hurting someone or finds himself getting hurt.
Feel bad for the Speed Demon, man I was hoping to see him hoist the title do one of his signature poses with it. Will be visiting arcaracing.com, leaving a message to Speed and one for Stenhouse. He needs to know he lost a fan, I don't care how far he gets in NASCAR, I will never follow or care what he does. Can't reward someone who can't have faith in himself, in his abilities as a driver to cleaning beat someone for a championship and can't man up to his wrong instead blames his ill handling car.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Mike - couldn't agree with you more. Stenhouse showed his true colors at this race - and it wasn't pretty. I just hope our Speed Demon is ok and can move on from this.
about 1 month ago
Kudos to Speed for delivering payback on Stenhouse, old school stock car racing style. I don't think anyone's ever gotten acclimated to stock cars this quickly after racing open wheels for so long. Can't wait to see Speed make his Sprint Cup debut.
As for Stenhouse, no past loyalty to Roush Fenway Racing can get me to back him up on this one. He drove like a wuss. Instead of legitimately racing Speed for the championship, he tried to wreck him the entire way. He should have been parked before Speed even had the opportunity to retaliate.
Congrats to Justin Allgaier, and here's to a full-time drive in the No. 77 in 2010 when Hornish jumps back to the IRL.
from about 1 month ago
Yep, Scott did what he needed to do - and he will continue to do so I'm sure. We will see him in Martinsville - maybe he was just practicing up?!!
If Speed couldn't win it, there's none better than Justin Allgaier, heck of a nice kid and a good little racer. He will do just fine as he moves along too.
Thanks for the read and comment Chris.
from about 1 month ago
Hornish ain't going back. If he gives up on NASCAR, it'll be to retire. He was quite obviously bored with the IRL in 2007 after accomplishing more than anyone else in the series.
But still looking forward to Allgaier in the Nationwide Series. He'll be a good driver, I'm sure.
Can't wait for Scott Speed's Cup debut.
about 1 month ago
Good recap as always. As for Speed and Steinhouse, if Arca did not have forsight to tell Steinhouse to cut it out 3 laps before he drove Speed into the wall, they should have parked him until Speed got back on the track. Since they did not, Speed had no choice but to take him out least Steinhouse woudl have won the championship with a dirty blantent move.
I heard Steinhouse say that his brakes were out and that is why he hit Speed. They seemed to work when he was behind any other car and they worked pretty good when Scot hit him. Allgaier is going to do well in Nationwide and Speed will do really well in Cup.
about 1 month ago
That sucks that Speed missed the Championship, but I think he got his point across... third in points for the first time out ain't the end of the world.
I am very pleased he helped Stenhouse find the wall as well.
On top of that, how about this Allgaier kid. He was trying to show out Friday night, before getting caught in someone elses mess.
Maybe the ABC...oops... ANC schedule for bringing new talent in isn't so bad after all. Maybe if a lot of other open wheel drivers had made a slower ascension to the top, they would have had an easier fall back down.
Looking forward to seeing Speed in a cup car.
Great Write!
from about 1 month ago
Mitchell, Scott did indeed make his point....will be good to see Speed and Allgaier progress to their next levels. Wont be watching Stenhouse that's for sure!!
about 1 month ago
Another great article Mary Jo!
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Chris - much appreciated. wish it had a different ending!
about 1 month ago
Claire B Lang is having Steinhouse on her show at 4:15 today. Should be interesting.
about 1 month ago
My fault. Claire B. Said 5:20 Steinhouse will be on the show.
from about 1 month ago
I'm more interested in Scott Speed - any word on how he is feeling??
about 1 month ago
Stenhouse was an idiot yesterday, but it's good to see Speed fail to win a title he is quoted as saying he didn't care about winning. Justin Allgaier wouldn't be here it wasn't for ARCA, and he sure respects what the ARCA series is about. Congrats to him.
from about 1 month ago
Matt, you're right - Allgaier really appreciates this and his family has sacrificed everything for him. So, it's great to see him come out on top. I do think Scott cares a great deal - but he had to do what he felt he had to do in response to Stenhouse's move....
from about 1 month ago
Matt I really think, Speed proved you wrong he did care or he wouldn't have driven the car back out on the track and taken Stenhouse out like he did. When Speed was interviewed by Speed TV, that was one upset driver and it was no brainer to see the disappointment on his face. I know what your talking about, it was totally taken out of context.
Just like the website you write for took his comments he made when ask if he learned more from the ARCA cars or the Trucks way out of context. I have read the original article, it's been rehased in different ones and never quoted like the original article. Well dah, I can tell you as a fan that the trucks are the closest to the Cup cars it no brainer what he would say and then to read he's bashing ARCA. Give me a break, guess ESPN rubbing off on everyone with these double sworded questions regardless how he answears it someones going to jump on it and totally take it out of context.
about 1 month ago
I believe Speed to him out as a form of payback, like any driver would have. This isn't the first time Speed disrespected a series, as he said a few years ago that winning an F1 race would be a bigger deal than winning the Indy 500. That was published in one of the F1 magazines you can find in the bookstore. Furthermore, look at this quote from the official ARCA site recap:
"He (Stenhouse) was on my bumper and he pushed me flat out until I hit the wall," said Speed. "And then the car was completely undrivable; it wasn't even close. It was so bad from hitting the wall; I couldn't do anything with it. Stenhouse started it and he isn't going to win this championship with that attitude. That was ridiculous; that was the most blatant thing I ever saw in my life. Honestly, it's just ARCA; that's just how it is."
It's just ARCA, that's just how it is. Disrespectful. Now that Red Bull promoted him to the 84, maybe we can see if he'll start caring more about the series he drives in.
from about 1 month ago
Matt when he made the comment about winning a F1 race was bigger than winning the Indy 500. He was in F1, he's never driven in IRL and how's he being disrepectful? It would be if he drove in the Series, then moved onto F1 and made the comment. Plus when he moved to NASCAR, he could have gotten into IndyCar, but didn't since stock cars where more of a challenge for him and I guess to you that's disrepectful too.
I watched the race, heard him make those comments to Speed TV and I see nothing disrepectful in his comments. The guys pissed, it's not going to be pretty what he says. At least he didn't look like he was about to cry and whining about it being his brakes. But I also read were Stenhouse was overheard telling people he would take Speed out so he could not win and if it's true. What Speed said, would be much better than what I would've said in Speed's shoes. You need to realize he's in the series for one year and won't be racing his entire career in ARCA. Funny how you support dirty racing, it was the Championship after all and obviously Stenhouse couldn't beat him for it and took him out.
Oh you'll be caring about the Speed Demon, since he'll be successful and you be writing about him.
about 1 month ago
Actually he made that comment as he was in a developmental series before going to Europe. I called it disrespectful because as an American driver, I would expect the Indy 500 to mean something to him.
I've been nice to you thus far but if you keep attacking me I'll have to respond in kind. Consider this your last warning, internet tough guy.
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