Ty Gibbs dominates in Phoenix during ARCA National, West Series combination event
The ARCA Menards Series championship battle has been heated up already thanks to an early trip to the desert. Ty Gibbs sawed most of Corey Heim’s early championship advantage with a dominant race in Friday’s General Tire 150 from the Phoenix Raceway.
Gibbs led 124 of the 150 laps around the one-mile circuit outside of Phoenix, Arizona Friday evening.
The race served as the second race of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series tour out of the 20-race calendar. Additionally, it counted as the season-opening race of the ARCA Menards Series West campaign.
Officially, Ty Gibbs is scored as the West Series points leader. The grandson of NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs will not contest the full West season, however, with a full-slate of national ARCA races planned and 15 NASCAR Xfinity Series events on the table. The reigning West Series champion Jesse Love took the top spot out of those who have declared full-time competition in that division.
Derek Kraus, a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular, competed in the race driving for Bill McAnally Racing. He was the highest running driver fielded by a West Series operation finishing in 5th. His main goal will be his sophomore season in the NASCAR touring division and used the race for extra seat time ahead of the Championship race for the NCWTS this November. He won the 2019 ARCA West Series Championship at the Phoenix Raceway.
A crash on the opening lap took out big name contenders. Rookie driver Gracie Trotter was in the midst of the drama for a second straight race, slipping up into another NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor, being Zane Smith in the first turn.
The contact eliminated both Trotter and Smith, and collected Jack Wood and Toni Breidinger, who also failed to return to the race.
Nick Sanchez was running an impressive race in the Max Siegel-sponsored Chevrolet with about 30 laps remaining. Contact with a car laps down eliminated him from contention, destroying the Chevy. He was running third behind Gibbs and Heim.
A pop-up rain shower and subsequent spin by Joey Iest in the closing laps set up a one-lap-shootout to decide the winner. Gibbs held off Heim and scored his ninth career victory in the national ARCA Series. It is also his second win on the West tour.
Thad Moffitt posted his best career finish with a third-place run for David Gilliland Racing. He was followed by Kyle Sieg in his fifth career start, who also posted his best career run.
2021 General Tire 150 Results (Phoenix Raceway):
Fin.: Driver (No.) – Laps – Points
1: Ty Gibbs (18) – 150 – 48
2: Corey Heim (20) – 150 – 43
3: Thad Moffitt (46) – 150 – 42
4: Kyle Sieg (28) – 150 – 40
5: Derek Kraus (19) – 150 – 39
6: Jesse Love (16) – 150 – 38
7: Drew Dollar (15) – 150 – 38
8: Todd Souza (13) – 150 – 36
9: Taylor Gray (17) – 149 – 36
10: Trevor Huddleston (6) – 148 – 34
11: Paul Pedroncelli Jr. (33) – 148 – 33
12: Cole Moore (99) – 148 – 32
13: Tim Richmond (27) – 147 – 31
14: Mark Lowrey (10) – 147 – 30
15: Dean Thompson (51) – 147 – 29
16: Joey Iest (54) – 146 – 28
17: Tony Toste (77) – 146 – 27
18: Jake Drew (9) – 144 – 26
19: Richard Garvie (11) – 141 – 25
20: D.L. Wilson (12) – 140 – 24
21: Nick Sanchez (2) – 120 – 23
22: Bridget Burgess (88) – 118 – 22
23: Takuma Koga (7) – 93 – 21
24: Bobby Hillis Jr. (27W) – 53 – 20
25: Bryce Haugeberg (01) – 32 – 19
26: Brad Smith (48) – 15 – 18
27: Gracie Trotter (25) – 0 – 17
28: Zane Smith (17W) – 0 – 16
29: Jack Wood (21) – 0 – 15
30: Toni Breidinger (02) – 0 – 14
2021 ARCA Menards Series Standings after Race 2 of 20:
Pos.: Driver (Wins) – Points [Behind]
1: Corey Heim (1) – 91
2: Ty Gibbs (1) – 88 [-3]
3: Drew Dollar – 82 [-9]
4: Kyle Sieg – 79 [-12]
5: Thad Moffitt – 65 [-26]
6: Tim Richmond – 56 [-35]
7: Richard Garvie – 52 [-39]
8: Jack Wood – 50 [-41]
9: D.L. Wilson – 42 [-49]
10: Bret Holmes – 41 [-50]
11: Toni Breidinger – 40 [-51]
12: Derek Kraus – 39 [-52]
13: Derrick Lancaster – 39 [-52]
14: Gracie Trotter – 39 [-52]
15: Jesse Love – 38 [-53]
16: Tanner Gray – 38 [-53]
17: Andy Jankowiak – 36 [-55]
18: Todd Souza – 36 [-55]
19: Taylor Gray – 36 [-55]
20: Nick Sanchez – 36 [-55]
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