From Adam Fenwick / arcaracing.com
ELKO NEW MARKET, Minn. – Last week Sammy Smith needed a bit of luck to win his first ARCA Menards Series race at Michigan’s Berlin Raceway.
That wasn’t the case Saturday at Elko Speedway as the driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports dominated the Menards 250 to earn his second ARCA Menards Series victory in as many weeks.
“This one feels way better, to win it like this. We kicked their butts today,” Smith said after his dominant run. “Thanks to the whole team.”
Smith swept the day at Elko Speedway. He opened the afternoon by topping practice and followed that up by earning the General Tire Pole Award for the Menards 250 during qualifying.
Once the green flag waved, Smith was in his own league most of the evening.
He only briefly lost the lead once to Jesse Love during an early restart, but Smith quickly regained the lead on the 62nd lap and never lost it again.
“There was a lot of junk in the way all night,” Smith said. “We did a good job. Just part of it and got around them. We’ll keep digging.”
Love chased Smith for the rest of the race, but he was never able to seriously challenge him and was forced to settle for second.
“At the end of the night we just needed to be a little bit better,” said Love. “We’ll go back to the shop and keep on working and I’ll see what I could have done better too. Obviously something to build off of, but as a team we want to be up front and be dominant and be able to win this race next year.”
Landon Pembelton, making his ARCA Menards Series debut, finished a strong third for Venturini Motorsports in the No. 15 Toyota after racing within the top-five throughout the evening.
Taylor Gray finished fourth after spinning to bring out the first caution of the race and Daniel Dye completed the top-five.
Tom Hessert, Rajah Caruth, Greg Van Alst, Willie Mullins and Ron Vandermeir Jr. were sixth through 10th, respectively.
The ARCA Menards Series is back in action again Friday, July 8 as the tour visits the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, for its first road course event of the season. That event will be broadcast live on FS1 at 5 p.m. ET.
See the full story and results:
Photo: arcaracing.com
Menards 250 Results:
Sammy Smith
Jesse Love
Landon Pembelton
Taylor Gray
Daniel Dye
Tom Hessert III
Rajah Caruth
Greg Van Alst
Willie Mullins
Ron Vandermeir, Jr.
Nick Sanchez
Toni Breidinger
Colton Collins
Bryce Haugeberg
Alex Clubb
Brad Smith
Amber Balcaen
Zachary Tinkle
D.L. Wilson
Dallas Frueh
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