- Defending series champion William Sawalich (No 18 Starkey / SoundGear Toyota) clinched the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East championship with his victory in Thursday night’s Bush’s Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sawalich outdueled Landen Lewis (No. 97 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet) on an overtime restart to score his eighth ARCA Menards Series victory of the year and third ARCA Menards Series East win of the season.
- Connor Zilisch (No. 28 Silver Hare Development / Chevrolet Performance Chevrolet) entered the race at Bristol with a 16-point lead in the ARCA Menards Series East championship standings and was on pace to clinch the title early in the race. Zilisch, who needed to only finish 12th or higher to win the title, was relegated to 26th at the finish after he was swept into a crash not of his doing while leading on lap 65. Zilisch finished second in the East standings, 12 points behind Sawalich.
- Lewis finished second in his first ARCA Menards Series appearance since he finished 20th at Bristol in 2023. Lewis won at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in 2021 in just his second series start and is a two-time ARCA Menards Series West winner. He also finished second at Phoenix Raceway in March 2023.
- Lavar Scott (No. 6 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) finished third after a stuck throttle in qualifying forced him to start 26th. Scott quickly worked his way through the field and avoided major problems while battling for position in and among the top ten to score his eighth top-five finish of 2024.
- Andres Perez (No. 2 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) finished fourth to maintain a 53-point lead in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings over Scott with just two series races remaining.
- Dean Thompson (No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota) was the highest finishing of the five Venturini Motorsports entries in fifth.
- ARCA Menards Series West championship points leader Tyler Reif (No. 23 Sigma Performance Services/GMS Fabrication Chevrolet) finished sixth in his first ARCA Menards Series start since the second race of the season at Phoenix Raceway. Reif won in his ARCA Menards Series debut at Phoenix in 2023 and has two West victories in 2024. He leads the West standings by seven points over defending series champion Sean Hingorani with four races remaining.
- Corey Day (No. 82 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet) scored his best career series finish in seventh. Day drove a second entry fielded by Pinnacle Racing Group; his effort was overseen by Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Greg Ives.
- Talladega winner Jake Finch (No. 1 Phoenix Toyota) finished eighth in just his second short track appearance of the season. Finch finished 18th at Salem Speedway in his only other short track start this season.
- Lawless Alan (No. 33 AutoPARKIt Ford) finished ninth, his third top-ten finish in five ARCA Menards Series starts in 2024.
- Andy Jankowiak (No. 73 Acacia Energy Toyota) finished tenth, the final car on the lead lap.
- Zachary Tinkle (No. 11 Racing for Rescues Toyota) finished eleventh to secure fourth place in the final ARCA Menards Series East championship standings.
- The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is Reese’s 150 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 27 at 5 pm ET/4 pm CT. The race will be televised live on FS1 and broadcast on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide.
About ARCA
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum in Toledo, Ohio, and acquired by NASCAR in April 2018, is the leading grassroots stock car sanctioning body in the United States. Bridging the gap between NASCAR’s top three national touring series and weekly and regional tour racing all across the country, the organization sanctions over 100 races per year in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, ASA STARS National Tour, ASA CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Southern Super Series plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. For more information about ARCA visit www.arcaracing.com, or follow ARCA on Facebook (@ARCARacing) and Twitter (@ARCA_Racing).
About Menards
A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. You’ll find a large selection of lumber, roofing, siding, construction blocks, trusses, doors and windows, plus cabinets, appliances, countertops, flooring, lighting, paint, plumbing supplies and more. To complete the job, Menards has quality hand tools, power tools, fasteners, electrical tools plus storage options and supplies for everyone from the weekend warrior to the pro!
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Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.
