It was a race full of trials and tribulations, but it was Tanner Gray’s time to find redemption and take the trophy in the General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his first career ARCA Menards Series win.
This comes after dominating his last start at Kansas Speedway, but getting beat in a late race run by eventual winner Connor Mosack.
“Leaving Kansas I felt like we had such a dominant car. I was almost a little bit nervous coming back here cause I knew the car would be fast…I just didn’t want to screw it up,” the Artesia, NM native said post-race.
“To be able to execute a solid race, and finish off those last few laps is really cool. Hopefully, we can do it again in the truck race,” he added.
Gray overcame being a lap down due to a cut tire early in the race on lap 33.
ISSUES! Gray has a flat right rear.
He was running second.
Lap 33.#ARCAMenards #GeneralTire150
— Ben Branscum (The New/Real One) (@benbranscum) May 24, 2024
Gray is now back on the lead lap.#ARCAMenards #GeneralTire150
— Ben Branscum (The New/Real One) (@benbranscum) May 24, 2024
A dominant run for rookie Carson Kvapil came just short. He led 61 laps en route to a second-place finish in his third career ARCA Menards Series start with Pinnacle Racing Group.
Pole sitter and points leader Andres Perez managed a third.
Fourth-place finisher Frank Kimmel showed a lot of elation for his run in a car that is built for short tracks.
“I’m gonna remember this one for a while,” he told TobyChristie.com.
“I’ll remember this one for a while.”
Will Kimmel was all smiles after this P4 run in Charlotte. Big Bill even came up to congratulate him.
You could tell it meant a lot. pic.twitter.com/jM09bdKzM4
— Ben Branscum (The New/Real One) (@benbranscum) May 25, 2024
Perez’s teammate Lavar Scott rounded out the top five with his second top-five of the season.
It was also a solid run for Lawless Alan in the Reaume Brothers Racing No. 33. After having to start shotgun on the field, he managed to muscle his way into an eight-place finish.
Disappointment also fell for some.
Kansas winner Connor Mosack had mechanical issues that took him out of contention early and relegated him to a 27th-place finish. Issues also came for Christian Rose who now sits sixth in points, as he ended his day in the garage with a 28th place.
Looking at the points standings, Andres Perez grew his lead to 16 over Greg Van Alst.
#ARCA: Friday at Charlotte was a pivotal moment in the ARCA Menards Series title fight, with @AndresPLG2 extending his lead to 16 points over @GregVanAlst35.@AmberBalcaen10 remains P3 (-33), with @LavarScott now P4 (-37) and @KrisOnNASCAR P5 (-39). pic.twitter.com/MYpAU2zzeo
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) May 25, 2024
Up next, the ARCA Menards Series travels to Iowa for the Atlas 150 on June 14th on FS1 at 8 PM EST.
Official Results from the General Tire 15o
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Laps | Diff | Status | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 18 | Tanner Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing Place of Hope Toyota | 100 | Running | 47 | |
| 2 | 5 | 82 | Carson Kvapil | Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet Performance Chevrolet | 100 | 0.939 | Running | 44 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | Andres Perez | REV Racing Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet | 100 | 2.355 | Running | 43 |
| 4 | 10 | 69 | Will Kimmel | Kimmel Racing Weddington Custom Homes Ford | 100 | 5.192 | Running | 40 |
| 5 | 7 | 6 | Lavar Scott | REV Racing Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet | 100 | 5.343 | Running | 39 |
| 6 | 2 | 55 | Gus Dean | Venturini Motorsports DRIVEN Trackside Toyota | 100 | 7.275 | Running | 38 |
| 7 | 11 | 20 | Dean Thompson | Venturini Motorsports Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 100 | 7.423 | Running | 37 |
| 8 | 30 | 33 | Lawless Alan | Reaume Brothers Racing AutoParkIt.com Ford | 100 | 7.817 | Running | 36 |
| 9 | 15 | 97 | Jason Kitzmiller | CR7 Motorsports ALL Construction Chevrolet | 100 | 8.342 | Running | 35 |
| 10 | 18 | 9 | Sebastian Arias | REV Racing Brady IFS Chevrolet | 100 | 11.265 | Running | 34 |
| 11 | 13 | 35 | Greg Van Alst | Greg Van Alst Motorsports CB Fabricating Ford | 100 | 11.273 | Running | 33 |
| 12 | 12 | 25 | Toni Breidinger | Venturini Motorsports CELSIUS Toyota | 100 | 12.836 | Running | 32 |
| 13 | 16 | 10 | Cody Dennison | Fast Track Racing Timcast.com Toyota | 100 | 16.986 | Running | 31 |
| 14 | 9 | 73 | Andy Jankowiak | KLAS Motorsports Acacia Energy Toyota | 100 | 27.118 | Running | 30 |
| 15 | 8 | 22 | Amber Balcaen | Venturini Motorsports ICON Direct Toyota | 99 | 1 lap | Running | 29 |
| 16 | 21 | 12 | Ryan Roulette | Fast Track Racing Bellator Recruiting / VFW Ford | 98 | 2 laps | Running | 28 |
| 17 | 17 | 27 | Tim Richmond | Richmond Motorsports Immigration Law Center Toyota | 98 | 2 laps | Running | 27 |
| 18 | 4 | 15 | Kris Wright | Venturini Motorsports FNB Corporation Toyota | 97 | 3 laps | Running | 26 |
| 19 | 22 | 88 | AJ Moyer | Moyer-Petraino Racing River's Edge Cottages & RV Park Chevrolet | 96 | 4 laps | Running | 25 |
| 20 | 23 | 99 | Michael Maples | Fast Track Racing Don Ray Petroleum LLC Chevrolet | 94 | 6 laps | Running | 24 |
| 21 | 24 | 57 | Austin McDaniel | Brother-in-Law Motorsports Chevrolet | 90 | 10 laps | Running | 23 |
| 22 | 28 | 06 | Con Nicolopoulos | Peterson Motorsports Ford | 89 | 11 laps | Running | 22 |
| 23 | 26 | 75 | Hunter Deshautelle | Brother-in-Law Motorsports Chevrolet | 87 | 13 laps | Running | 21 |
| 24 | 29 | 31 | Mitch Gibson | Rise Motorsports C&S Construction & Cabinet Designs Chevrolet | 79 | 21 laps | Accident | 20 |
| 25 | 25 | 03 | Alex Clubb | Clubb Racing, Inc. Race Part Liquidators Ford | 45 | 55 laps | Retired | 19 |
| 26 | 27 | 48 | Brad Smith | Smith Brothers Motorsports Copraya.com Ford | 36 | 64 laps | Retired | 18 |
| 27 | 6 | 28 | Connor Mosack | Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet Performance Chevrolet | 30 | 70 laps | Retired | 17 |
| 28 | 14 | 32 | Christian Rose | AM Racing Blue Wolf Cleaners & Degreasers Chevrolet | 29 | 71 laps | Retired | 16 |
| 29 | 20 | 11 | Jayson Alexander | Fast Track Racing Constant Contact Ford | 20 | 80 laps | Retired | 15 |
| 30 | 19 | 93 | Caleb Costner | CW Motorsports C4 Foundation / Heritage Water Systems Chevrolet | 0 | 100 laps | DNS | 14 |
