Connor Zilisch wins wild ARCA race at Dover
In just his third ARCA-sanctioned start, Connor Zilisch is a winner — at Dover Motor Speedway no less.
The 17-year-old phenom put his No. 28 Chevrolet out in front for 40 of 150 laps en route to his win.
It wasn’t an easy one for Zilisch.
The race was marred by many crashes, starting on lap 74. That’s when the No. 32 of Christian Rose and the No. 22 of Amber Balcaen both had hard hits. It resulted in Balcaen having a potential foot injury.
As Zilisch rode in the top 5, the race was dominated by No. 20 of Gio Ruggiero and the No. 18 of William Sawalich — until a jumped restart by Ruggiero forced him to serve a penalty.
As the Ruggiero served his penalty, the No.28 jumped to second. However, just a lap later, Sawalich and Zilisch made contact in turn 3. It sent the No. 18 car into the wall, ending Sawalich’s day.
Zilisch took advantage of the situation and pulled out to huge lead even with a hard charging No. 20 car behind him. Another caution, for two of the other Venturini entries — the No. 25 of Toni Breidinger and the No. 15 of Kris Wright — came out with 14 laps to go.
Ruggiero had a great race but Zilisch kept the lead and won the General Tire 150.
The win launches Zilisch from third to second in the ARCA East Series Championship. He is only three points behind leader Ruggiero.
Sawalich’s crash was a big blow. He fell to third in points, now -15 points from the lead.
The next ARCA East race is standalone event at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on May 11. FloRacing will have the coverage.
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