William Sawalich earned his second career ARCA Menards Series victory and his second win of 2023 in the Dutch Boy 150 at Flat Rock Speedway. Sawalich took the lead from General Tire Pole Award winner Sean Hingorani with 48 laps remaining and led the rest of the way to take the win.
Lavar Scott scored his best career series finish, crossing the line in second. Scott also notched his best career qualifying effort, lining up outside the front row for the start.
Hingorani finished third, his best career East finish, after leading 102 laps from the pole. Hingorani is a two-time ARCA Menards Series West winner in 2023 and now leaps to third in the East standings and he chases both series championships.
Venturini Motorsports co-owner Billy Venturini made his return to the cockpit after a 17-year absence, finishing a competitive fourth in his first East series start.
Nashville winner Luke Fenhaus rounded out the top five, his fourth top-five finish of the season.
Zachary Tinkle matched his career-best finish in sixth, the first driver one lap down at the finish.
Tim Monroe earned his best career series finish in seventh.
Will Kimmel made his East debut, coming home in eighth in his father Bill’s No. 69 entry. The last time the Kimmel family entered the No. 69 at Flat Rock was in 1979, with the family patriarch Bill Kimmel scoring one of his three ARCA Menards Series victories.
Local favorite Jeffrey MacZink, from nearby Brownstown Twp., Mich., finished ninth in his first East appearance. He was driving the same car that was involved in a crash in the 2022 ARCA Menards Series finale at Toledo Speedway, which was finally finished earlier in the week.
Derrick McGrew, Jr., a regular competitor in the Super DIRTCar Series, rounded out the top ten in his first East start driving for Tim and Rita Goulet’s RISE Motorsports team.
Jeff Smith made his first ARCA Menards Series platform start at Flat Rock on August 8, 1987. His second start came 13,069 days later – or 35 years, 9 months, and 12 days – the all-time record for time elapsed between a driver’s first and second career starts.
Sawalich continues to lead the ARCA Menards Series East championship point standings, and he has opened up a 13-point advantage over Fenhaus in second. Hingorani jumps to third, 22 points out of the lead, with Scott just one point out of third. Tinkle rounds out the top five, 32 points out of the lead.
The next four races for the ARCA Menards Series East will be combination races with the ARCA Menards Series.
Next up for the ARCA Menards Series East is the Calypso Lemonade 150 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, July 15. The race will be televised live on FS2 starting at 8 pm ET.
Notes - ARCA Racing
Photo - Level Pebble Racing Pics
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