After coming oh so close to his first career win in the ARCA Menards Series season, and taking a blowing defeat at Daytona, Jake Finch and his Phoenix Construction team were able to rise up and take home the victory in the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway, dominating and leading all 76 laps on the day.
This win marks his first in the ARCA Menards Series National platform. His second win in the ARCA platform as a whole after winning last year’s ARCA Menards Series East race at Dover Motor Speedway.
The Lynn Haven, FL native is now the 20th driver to get his first career win in the ARCA Menards Series at Talladega.
“Just trying to stay locked in. I can’t thank everyone enough. Shannon (Rusch) said if we just do what we need to do then we’ll kick everyone’s butts,” the 18-year-old said post-race.
“I couldn’t really believe like, we won. It’s super cool…Such a good day,” he added. Finch came so close to his first career win at Daytona earlier this year, but after contact on the last lap with Venturini teammate Gus Dean, the No. 20 machine was wrecked on the backstretch, a few thousand feet short.
Taking second on the day was Finch’s VMS teammate Kris Wright, who picked up his first career top five of his ARCA Menards Series career.
“It got a little hairy on the start…but we single filed out. I ran third for the first half, and second behind Finch in the second half. I made a move a little to late..the last thing I was gonna do was let someone win the race other than a Venturini car,” the Wexford, PA native said.
“I wanted to keep that victory in the Venturini camp.”
Toyota teammate Tanner Gray took home third on the day, with Daytona winner Gus Dean, and Christian Rose rounding out the top five.
Other solid runs included Caleb Costner, tying his career-best 13th-place finish from 2023, and Cody Dennison, who came home in 17th place.
After the dominant performance by Finch at Talladega, we have a new points leader. Christian Rose now leads by one point over Greg Van Alst.
Up next, the Series travels to Dover Motor Speedway for a combination race with the East. You can catch the race live on FS1 on Friday at 5 P.M. ET.
Official Results from the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Diff | Status | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Jake Finch | Venturini Motorsports Phoenix Construction Toyota | 76 | -- | Running | 48 |
| 2 | 15 | Kris Wright | Venturini Motorsports FNB Corporation Toyota | 76 | 0.184 | Running | 42 |
| 3 | 18 | Tanner Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing Place Of Hope Toyota | 76 | 0.264 | Running | 41 |
| 4 | 55 | Gus Dean | Venturini Motorsports Dean Custom Air Toyota | 76 | 0.483 | Running | 40 |
| 5 | 32 | Christian Rose | AM Racing West Virginia Department of Tourism Ford | 76 | 0.547 | Running | 39 |
| 6 | 8 | Sean Corr | Empire Racing Nesco Bus Sales Chevrolet | 76 | 16.588 | Running | 38 |
| 7 | 22 | Amber Balcaen | Venturini Motorsports Icon Technologies Toyota | 76 | 16.690 | Running | 37 |
| 8 | 2 | Andres Perez | Rev Racing Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet | 76 | 16.794 | Running | 36 |
| 9 | 30 | Frankie Muniz | Rette Jones Racing Ford | 76 | 16.895 | Running | 35 |
| 10 | 25 | Toni Breidinger | Venturini Motorsports Raising Cane’s Toyota | 76 | 17.026 | Running | 34 |
| 11 | 35 | Greg Van Alst | Greg Van Alst Motorsports Zaki Ali Injury & Criminal Attorney / ZakiAli.com Chevrolet | 76 | 17.485 | Running | 33 |
| 12 | 44 | Thomas Annunziata | Ferrier McClure Racing Nerd Focus Chevrolet | 76 | 19.194 | Running | 32 |
| 13 | 93 | Caleb Costner | Costner Weaver Motorsports Lickety Lew’s / Heritage Water Systems Chevrolet | 76 | 21.365 | Running | 31 |
| 14 | 69 | Scott Melton | Kimmel Racing Melton McFadden Insurance / Donna’s Donuts Ford | 75 | 1 lap | Running | 30 |
| 15 | 7 | Eric Caudell | CCM Racing RYDIN / Coble Enterprises / Red Tide Canopies Toyota | 75 | 1 lap | Running | 29 |
| 16 | 27 | Tim Richmond | Richmond Motorsports Immigration Law Center Toyota | 75 | 1 lap | Running | 28 |
| 17 | 01 | Cody Dennison | Fast Track Racing ALL CAPS Comics Ford | 75 | 1 lap | Running | 27 |
| 18 | 11 | Bryce Haugeberg | Fast Track Racing Karcher / Brenco Toyota | 74 | 2 laps | Running | 26 |
| 19 | 88 | A.J. Moyer | Moyer-Petroniro Racing River’s Edge Cottages & RV Park / Ampere EV Chevrolet | 74 | 2 laps | Running | 25 |
| 20 | 12 | Ryan Roulette | Fast Track Racing Bellator Recruiting Academy / VFW Ford | 74 | 2 laps | Running | 24 |
| 21 | 10 | Ed Pompa | Fast Track Racing HYTORC of NY / Double H Ranch Toyota | 74 | 2 laps | Running | 23 |
| 22 | 99 | Michael Maples | Fast Track Racing Don Ray Petroleum LLC Chevrolet | 73 | 3 laps | Running | 22 |
| 23 | 87 | Chuck Buchanan | Charles Buchanan Racing Spring Drug Chevrolet | 73 | 3 laps | Running | 21 |
| 24 | 57 | Hunter Deshautelle | Brother In Law Motorsports Chevrolet | 73 | 3 laps | Running | 20 |
| 25 | 03 | Alex Clubb | Clubb Racing Race Parts Liquidators Ford | 72 | 4 laps | Running | 19 |
| 26 | 31 | Casey Carden | Rise Motorsports nationalpolice.org Chevrolet | 71 | 5 laps | Running | 18 |
| 27 | 73 | Andy Jankowiak | KLAS Motorsports Acacia Energy Ford | 70 | 6 laps | Out | 17 |
| 28 | 06 | Con Nicolopoulos | Wayne Peterson Racing Peterson Motorsports Ford | 70 | 6 laps | Running | 16 |
| 29 | 98 | Dale Shearer | Shearer Speed Racing Toyota | 69 | 7 laps | Running | 15 |
| 30 | 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorsports Copraya.com Ford | 69 | 7 laps | Running | 14 |
| 31 | 6 | Lavar Scott | Rev Racing Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet | 68 | 8 laps | Running | 13 |
| 32 | 68 | Jeff Scofield | Kimmel Racing JXT Transportation Chevrolet | 26 | 50 laps | Out | 12 |
| 33 | 97 | Jason Kitzmiller | CR7 Motorsports A.L.L. Construction Chevrolet | 8 | 68 laps | Out | 11 |
| 34 | 0 | Ben Peterson | Wayne Peterson Racing Peterson Motorsports Toyota | 7 | 69 laps | Out | 10 |
