Written by Izzy Reed, Edited by Sean McKean
After a final restart that saw jostling for position and a flat tyre for the leader, Tanner Gray held on to take his second victory of the ARCA season in Kansas. It was Gray’s first victory since Charlotte back in May.
Isabella Robusto started on pole in her fourth ever start, going to the front row with team mate Gio Ruggiero at the drop of the green. But, the caution quickly came out, as the pole sitter collided with Andres Perez and hit the wall on Lap 2. She retired from the race.
On the restart, Gray took the lead from Ruggiero and eventually got a two-second lead over the field. Corey Day also broke into the top three ahead of Ruggiero.
Greg Van Alst clipped Amber Balcaen on Lap 10 followed by Jason Kitzmiller.Balcaen initially lost the car but kept it clean on track to make the save. Due to the contact, though, Kitzmiller came into pit road with a flat left-rear tyre.
Connor Zilisch continued to climb up the order, as he went around Lavar Scott as did Kris Wright.
Ruggiero quickly lost places, as the Venturini Motorsports driver was down six places by Lap 21. On the flip side, Zilisch – who started 28th – only took 17 laps to get to where he was originally supposed to start.
Drama struck the championship leader on Lap 46. Andres Perez went into the wall as the right front tires went down, stemming from damage sustained in the collision with Isabella Robusto on Lap 2. Perez had a 53 point advantage before this race.
Zilisch also blew his right-front tire but was saved by the scheduled caution.
Top ten at the halfway break:
No. 18 - Tanner Gray
No. 82 - Corey Day
No. 28 - Connor Zilisch
No. 15 - Kris Wright
No. 73 - Andy Jankowiak
No. 20 - Gio Ruggiero
No. 6 - Lavar Scott
No. 33 - Lawless Alan
No. 22 - Amber Balcaen
No. 25 - Toni Breidinger
On Lap 59, Gray led Day from the front row. Behind, Wright tried to get under Balcaen, sending her completely sideways, but impressively, she's able to get it straightened out.
Day took the lead on the inside, battling back and forth with Gray. but the caution came out following a spin by Rita Goulet. Gray was scored as the leader.
With 34 laps to go, Gray and Day led the field to the green flag. Gray is able to clear Day in second before Turn 1, but Day sent a move on the leader, pushing Gray into the wall and Day into a spin. They both kept it together, but the caution came back out. The Hendrick junior fell to eighth after making the pit stop.
When caution cleared, Gray led Wright with 29 laps to go. Jankowiak went on the outside of Zilisch but wasn’t able to get ahead for long. Zilisch then started closing in on Wright trying to battle the cars out for second.
With 13 laps left, Gray had led 79 in this race, but the fifth caution of the evening came out, as Wright went into the wall after front tire issues from the top five.
Although the leaders came into the pits, Amber Balcaen chose not to pit, so she led the field to the green and became the first woman to lead a NASCAReries race since 2021. Balcaen is quick to get pushed from Zilisch and moved to the back with old tyres when Gray gets in front of Jankowiak.
Dramatically, race leader Tanner Gray started smoking from the left-rear tire with only two laps to go when Jankowiak, Day and Zilisch went three-wide, pushing Jankaowiak into the wall.
Tanner Gray, despite the flat tyre, hung onto the lead and took his second career victory.
Provisional Results:
No. 18 - Tanner Gray (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 28 - Connor Zilisch (Pinnacle Racing Group)
No. 6 - Lavar Scott (Rev Racing)
No. 82 - Corey Day (Pinnacle Racing Group)
No. 28 - Gio Ruggiero (Venturini Motorsports)
No. 22 - Amber Balcaen (Venturini Motorsports)
No. 73 - Andy Jankowiak (KLAS Motorsports)
No. 22 - Lawless Alan (Venturini Motorsports)
No. 34 - Isaac Johnson (Greg Van Alst Motorsports)
No. 97 - Jason Kitzmiller (CR7 Motorsports)
No. 74 - Mandy Chick (Team Chick Motorsports)
No. 25 - Toni Breidinger (Venturini Motorsports)
No. 32 - Christian Rose (AM Racing)
No. 7 - Eric Caudell (CCM Racing)
No. 12 - Takuma Koga (Fast Track Racing)
No. 99 - Michael Maples (Fast Track Racing)
No. 9 - Sebastian Arias (Rev Racing)
No. 15 - Kris Wright (Venturini Motorsports)
No. 31 - Rita Goulet (Rise Motorsports)
No. 35 - Greg Van Alst (Greg Van Alst Motorsports)
No. 2 - Andres Perez (Rev Racing)
No. 11 - Cody Dennison (Fast Track Racing)
No. 17 - Marco Andretti (Cook Racing Technologies)
No. 10 - Christopher Tate (Fast Track Racing)
No. 48 - Brad Smith (Brad Smith Motorsports)
No. 06 - Kevin Hinckle (Wayne Peterson Racing)
No. 03 - Alex Clubb (Clubb Racing Inc)
No. 55 - Isabella Robusto (Venturini Motorsports)
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