Sammy Smith earns first ARCA East win in Pensacola 200
Sammy Smith captured the victory in Saturday evening’s ARCA Menards Series East race at Five Flags Speedway. Smith’s No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing led the way for the majority of the Pensacola 200, leading 145 of the 200 laps.
Despite winning the General Tire Pole Award earlier in the day, Smith failed to lead the opening lap. Taylor Gray in David Gilliland Racing’s No. 17 Ford took the lead early and paced the first seven laps before Smith captured the top spot back. The two swapped the lead multiple times throughout the day and Daniel Dye was able to lead a pair of laps.
It marked just the second career start for Smith, who lost the opening race of the season in a narrow three-wide photo-finish. Smith had the lead late at New Smyrna Speedway earlier this month but a penalty late cost him the lead on the final restart.
Mason Diaz finished runner-up in the Visconti Motorsports No. 74 Toyota. The result is the best in Diaz’s career, now in his third season on the East tour. Taylor Gray ended the race in third after leading 53 laps. Rajah Caruth ended the 200-lapper in fourth-position, his best career result in just his second start, driving for Maz Siegel and Rev Racing.
Another mechanical failure sidelined Carson Kvapil’s No. 41 Chevrolet at the end of the night, forcing the Cook-Finley Racing Chevy to exit after 174 laps. Daniel Dye’s Ben Kennedy Racing No. 43 also failed to finish. Dye’s Chevy had a puncture in the radiator in the closing laps and the car was retired within the final twenty laps.
The 2021 ARCA Menards Series East will be on hiatus until May. The next race will be the Music City 200 at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee. That race will be streamed live on the NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass subscription.
2021 Pensacola 200 Results (Five Flags Speedway):
Fin.: Driver (No.) – Laps – Points
1: Sammy Smith (18) – 200 – 49
2: Mason Diaz (74) – 200 – 42
3: Taylor Gray (17) – 200 – 42
4: Rajah Caruth (6) – 200 – 40
5: Joey Iest (54) – 200 – 39
6: Parker Retzlaff (42) – 200 – 38
7: Max Gutierrez (30) – 200 – 37
8: Stephanie Moyer (12) – 188 – 36
9: Daniel Dye (43) – 183 – 36
10: Richard Garvie (11) – 178 – 34
11: Carson Kvapil (41) – 174 – 33
12: Dick Doheny (10) – 6 – 32
13: Wayne Peterson (06) – 2 – 31
2021 ARCA Menards Series East Standings after Race 2 of 8:
Pos.: Driver (Wins) – Points [Behind]
1: Sammy Smith (1) – 93
2: Taylor Gray – 85 [-8]
3: Max Gutierrez – 84 [-9]
4: Mason Diaz – 83 [-10]
5: Joey Iest – 78 [-15]
6: Daniel Dye – 74 [-19]
7: Parker Retzlaff – 74 [-19]
8: Rajah Caruth – 73 [-20]
9: Richard Garvie – 66 [-27]
10: Carson Kvapil – 63 [-30]
11: Dick Doheny – 61 [-32]
12: Colt Hensley – 37 [-56]
13: Brandon Oakley – 36 [-57]
14: Stephanie Moyer – 36 [-57]
15: Willie Mullins – 31 [-62]
16: Jack Wood – 31 [-62]
17: Wayne Peterson – 31 [-62]
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