ARCA Menards Series at Watkins Glen International: General Tire 100 at The Glen Post-race Notes
- Connor Zilisch (No. 28 Silver Hare Development / Chevrolet Performance Chevrolet) earned his fifth ARCA Menards Series victory of 2024 in Friday’s General Tire 100 at The Glen. Zilisch started from the General Tire Pole and led 40 of the race’s 41 laps to score his fifth win in seven career series starts. Zilisch’s other two starts, including his series debut at Watkins Glen in 2023, resulted in second-place finishes.
- Zilisch also won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International in his series debut. The last driver to win in his Xfinity Series debut was 2021 ARCA Menards Series champion Ty Gibbs in February 2021 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
- William Sawalich (No. 18 Starkey / SoundGear Toyota) finished second, 12.778 seconds behind Zilisch. Sawalich, who has won eight times in 2024, has eleven career wins, 22 top-five, and 23 top-ten finishes in 25 career ARCA Menards Series starts.
- Brandon Jones (No. 42 Lyons Bathtubs & Showers / Menards Chevrolet) finished third in his first ARCA Menards Series start since he won at Watkins Glen in 2023.
- Andres Perez (No. 2 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) finished fourth after a track bar mount repair after qualifying forced him to start the race from the tail of the field. He extended his lead in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings to 54 points over his teammate Lavar Scott (No. 6 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet), who finished ninth.
- Connor Mosack (No. 23 Sigma Performance Services Chevrolet) finished fifth in his first start since the season’s first road course race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It was the second top-five finish for team owner Joe Farre’; the Sigma Performance Services team, which also won the ARCA Menards Series West race at Sonoma Raceway with Sam Mayer driving, finished fourth at Iowa Speedway with 2014 ARCA Menards Series champion Mason Mitchell driving.
- Giovanni Ruggiero (No. 20 First Auto Group Toyota) finished sixth, the best finish for Venturini Motorsports and the organization’s only top-ten finish. Ruggiero also raced in the ASA STARS National Tour Glass City 200 at Toledo Speedway on Saturday, finishing second behind race winner and former ARCA Menards Series winner Casey Roderick.
- Thomas Annunziata (No. 44 Bayshore Mortgage Funding Ford) finished seventh after spending much of the race in the top five. He was spun late in the race after contact from another driver and dropped to tenth, but was able to regain three positions in the final 10 laps.
- Ryan Gemmel (No. 29 Diamond Brite / TC3 Turf Toyota) finished eighth in his ARCA Menards Series debut; Gemmel was driving for NEMCO Motorsports, owned by Joe Nemechek, which has won NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Watkins Glen International with Ron Fellows driving.
- Dylan Lupton (No. 30 Lupton Excavation Ford) also recovered from an early race spin to finish tenth in his first ARCA Menards Series start since he finished fourth at Kansas Speedway in 2020.
- The race was slowed only once for one lap by the scheduled caution at halfway. Zilisch’s 106.673 mile per hour average speed is a series record.
- Zilisch’s 12.778-second margin of victory is the largest winning margin of 2024.
- The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is Bush’s Best 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 19. The race will be televised live on FS1 5 pm ET.
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
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