Connor Zilisch Nudges Way to Win at Dover; First Career ARCA Win

Connor Zilisch continued his swift climb up the stock car racing ladder on Friday as he scored his first career ARCA Menards Series victory in the General Tire 150 at Dover Motor Speedway, which was just his second career start. The win also served as his first career ARCA Menards Series East win as this was a combination event.

While the 17-year-old phenom looked like a posied veteran as he held off a furious field of drivers on the final restart of the race, Zilisch admitted that he lacked confidence earlier in the race.

“Yeah, I can’t even lie. Those first 70 laps, I was pretty intimidated,” Zilisch explained. “I was saying, ‘The car’s free, the car’s free,’ and then, we’re sitting under red on the backstraightaway and I was like, ‘Damn, I just need to get on the gas.’ Derek Kneeland up on the spotter stand, Shane Huffman on the pitbox, they did a great job keeping me in it. I was down on myself there. I was running fifth, sixth, and couldn’t make any ground. Just so thankful for this entire team.”

Zilisch snagged the win in the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet, it wasn’t without controversey. On a restart at Lap 109, Zilisch made contact with William Sawalich, who led a race-high 67 laps, which sent Sawalich into the wall, and out of the race.

? YIKES! Contact with @ConnorZilisch sends @WilliamSawalich into the wall while racing for the lead at the @MonsterMile! pic.twitter.com/tXMvIOOXm2

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) April 26, 2024

“Those restarts were hectic, but we kept it up front and got ourselves a win at The Monster Mile,” Zilisch exclaimed.

Gio Ruggiero, who served a penalty for an illegal restart late in the race, rallied to finish runner-up to Zilisch in the No. 20 Venturini Motorsports entry. Ruggiero led 41 laps in the race, and looked like the only real challenger to Sawalich until the contact from Zilisch changed the outcome of the race.

With the runner-up finish, Ruggiero was able to cling to his narrow ARCA Menards Series East championship lead. Ruggiero now holds a three-point advantage over Zilisch after Dover.

Carson Kvapil came home in third, despite suffering damage to the right quarterpanel of his No. 82 Pinnacle Racing Group machine, damage which necessitated the team repurposing its pit sign into a body panel on a repair during the second and final race break caution.

Lavar Scott finished a drama-free fourth, and he came in ahead of his Rev Racing teammate Andres Perez, who rounded out the top-five finishers. With his top-five finish, Perez assumed the ARCA Menards Series point lead by one point over Greg Van Alst.

Kris Wright finished sixth after a late incident with his Venturini Motorsports teammate Toni Breidinger. With 14 laps to go, Wright had a big run off of Turn 4, and as he attempted to pass on the outside, Breidinger didn’t see him, and turned right into him.

? Lots of damage for @ToniBreidinger after making contact with teammate @KrisOnNASCAR.

Less than ? to go when we go back to green at the @MonsterMile for the #GeneralTire150. pic.twitter.com/LBrC6BEkQ4

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) April 26, 2024

While Wright would come home in sixth, Breidinger would finish 15th, three laps off the pace.

Andy Jankowiak, Greg Van Alst, Caleb Costner, and Zachary Tinkle capped off the top-10 finishers in the 24-car field.

Christian Rose, who entered the day as the ARCA Menards Series point leader, saw disaster strike on Lap 75 as something appeared to break on his No. 32 AM Racing Ford, which sent him hard into the outside wall in Turn 4.

As Rose’s car burst into flames, Amber Balcaen made an evasive maneuver to miss Rose’s crumpled race car, but in doing so, she spun and collided with the inside wall.

Video: Christian Rose, Amber Balcaen Involved in Hard Crash at Dover

The impact into the inside wall caused an injury to Balcaen’s foot, and as she climbed from her car, she limped to safety workers.

After a trip to the infield care center, Balcaen took a golf cart ride back to the garage and her foot was wrapped up with a support embedded under the wrap. Aside from the foot injury, Balcaen says she is fine.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Balcaen said. “It was a decently hard hit. I feel fine everywhere else, just gotta see what’s going on with my foot.”

Hopefully, Balcaen’s foot injury isn’t too severe. The driver of the No. 22 Venturini Motorsports entry sits fourth in the championship standings, just 18 points out of the lead despite the crash at Dover.

ARCA Menards Series / ARCA Menards Series East General Tire 150 Race Results