Scott Lagasse Jr. Captures the Checkered Flag from ARCA Regulars

In an exciting race at Chicagoland Speedway, Scott Lagasse, Jr. raced to the checkered flag in his No. 25 Venturini Motorsports race car, securing a victory in his first ARCA appearance in the 2008 racing season.  Billy Venturini, a native of Chicago, crew chiefed the car and savored the win with his driver in front of his hometown crowd. 

Lagasse, Jr. prevailed over Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who led 67 of the 136 laps.   Stenhouse had an amazing qualifying run, being the first driver to beat the 29 second mark in the ARCA series at this track.  But in spite of Stenhouse’s great qualifying effort, Lagasse was fastest in practice, the predictor of the victory to come.

Scott Speed came in third in the race.  His car was inconsistent all race long, as he moved forward a few spots, only to fall back a few laps later.  Justin Allgaier came in fourth and Jesse Smith rounded out the top five race finishers.

Scott Lagasse, Jr. has racing in his blood, following his father's competitive footsteps.  He started racing early in life, getting behind the wheel of a three wheeler at the age of four years.   And, as many young drivers do, he quickly graduated to go kart racing.

At age sixteen, Lagasse got into racing modifieds and in 2003 went into ASA.  In 2004, Scott achieved a significant achievement off the track by graduating with honors from Flagler College.

Scott got his big break in 2005 when he became a driver in the Chip Ganassi racing development program.  He drove a truck for Bobby Hamilton Racing in 2006 and competed in two Nationwide series races in 2007.  During that time, Lagasse also periodically competed in the ARCA series.

This race was Lagasse's first foray into ARCA in 2008 and he did so in style, celebrating with the checkered flag in victory lane.  Lagasse, age 26, hopes that this will continue to solidify his place in the up and coming driver ranks in NASCAR.

Although Lagasse will not be a contender in the ARCA points race, he did manage to tighten up the championship chase.  In fact, points leader Scott Speed is now only 50 points ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as a result of the Chicagoland race.

The ARCA series next moves to the short track of Salem Speedway on September 13th, where the battle between Speed and Stenhouse Jr. will continue to heat up for the rights to become this year’s ARCA champion.