Ryan Blaney started on the pole. It was his second career ARCA Racing Series pole in four career races. The green flag waved and he was able to lead the first lap after jumping out to a quick lead. It was a short time into the race when the action really picked up. Grant Enfinger and Mason Mingus were running for position on the frontstretch around lap 15. The two came up on James Swanson and Kent Schenkel, who were lapped cars running a good bit slower than the two front runners. Mingus made the move high and Enfinger decided to go low. Austin Rettig, who was much slower than all four of the other drivers, was running the bottom line. Somehow, Grant Enfinger made the move around him and they were five wide across the line. All five drivers made it out without incident and Enfinger even gained a spot on Mingus. This action led to the first caution of the race.
The first caution of the race waved on lap 23. Mason Mitchell, who was running in the top 10, blew a tire coming into turn 1 and slammed the outside wall. He had a good bit of damage and would fall many laps down. Buster Graham received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the second caution on lap 41. Tom Hessert, who was running in the top 10, blew a tire in turn 3 and slammed hard into the outside wall. His car was badly damage, but Hessert was all right. Roger Carter received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and Ryan Blaney, who had been leading the race almost all day, made a mistake.
Ryan Blaney decided to make a green flag pit stop on lap 69. It seemed like a good move since all the other leaders would have to pit soon, but it did not work. Before any of the other leaders could pit, the third caution of the race came out on lap 72. Spencer Gallagher, who was running in the top 10, became the third driver running in the top 10 to have tire problems. He blew a tire coming into turn 1 and slammed the outside wall. He received a good amount of damage and did not return to the race. Fortunately for Ryan Blaney, he received the lucky dog after he had went a lap down on his pit stop. Now, Blaney looked like he was in good position to make it back to the front and win. But he made another mistake.
Since Blaney was the lucky dog recipient, he was to move to the back of the field for the restart. He moved to the back of the lead lap cars, but he was supposed to be behind the lapped cars, too. The race restarted and he started making moves to the front. Since he had not been in the right spot, ARCA officials made him report behind Buster Graham, who he was positioned behind at the restart and did not fall behind. Blaney slid back behind him and his chances were pretty much dashed. Now, two Venturini Motorsports cars, Justin Boston and Brennan Poole, were holding the top two spots and looked like they would finish that way. But something miraculous happened.
Brennan made the move to pass Justin coming into turn 2 and he got underneath him. Brennan's car began to get loose and he chased it up the track. The air from his car caught Justin's car and Justin went spinning down the backstretch. He avoided the inside wall and continued on. This resulted in the fourth and final caution of the race on lap 88. Roger Carter received the lucky dog. The two Venturini Motorsports teams were stunned. Not only did they have the race won, but Ryan Blaney had no chance at catching them. Now, he was third and had a chance to pass Brennan for the win. The mad dash to the finish was set and it was sure to be good.
The race went back green for the final time and Brennan established himself as the leader. Blaney made his way to second and got right behind Brennan. Blaney ran the car out trying to pass him and Brennan stretched the lead and looked like he had the win. Kent Schenkel almost changed that. With two laps to go, Schenkel blew a tire in turn 3 and made slight contact with the outside wall, but he was able to make it down pit road and the race stayed green. Poole took the white flag and made it back for the victory at the checkered flag. It was his return to the ARCA Racing Series after running the full season last year and he made sure it was big return. He surely didn't disappoint.
It was quite a race at Michigan. There were battles for the lead, spins by the leader, five wide battles, and many close calls. Frank Kimmel did not tie Iggy Katona's record of 79 wins, but he did finish third and make some points on Mason Mingus. Mingus finished sixth, but he can not win the championship while finishing behind Kimmel. The series will head to the always great Road America next week for a great road course event. It will be the first time the ARCA Racing Series heads to the track and it will not be disappointing. It will be a month before the series is once again televised at Chicagoland. Will Frank Kimmel tie Iggy Katona's record at the track or will he defeat it after a win at Road America or Winchester? We will have to wait until the coming month to have these questions answered.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 23- Mason Mitchell blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed the outside wall.
2nd Caution: Lap 41- Tom Hessert blew a tire in turn 3 and slammed the outside wall.
3rd Caution: Lap 72- Spencer Gallagher blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed the outside wall.
4th Caution: Lap 88- Justin Boston went for a spin down the backstretch after Brennan Poole took the nose after his back bumper.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Buster Graham
2nd Caution: Roger Carter
3rd Caution: Ryan Blaney
4th Caution: Roger Carter
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Brennan Poole
2nd: Ryan Blaney
3rd: Frank Kimmel
4th: Justin Boston
5th: Grant Enfinger
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Mason Mingus
11th: Milka Duno
16th: Josh Williams
17th: Spencer Gallagher
19th: Mason Mitchell
21st: Tom Hessert
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Patriot_Pumps_200/A
http://timing1.arcaracing.com/
-Image:
http://www.arcaracing.com/images/stories/MIS/victory.jpg
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