Drew Dollar wins the General Tire 200 at Talladega

For the first time since March 6th at Phoenix Raceway, the ARCA Menards Series returned to action at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday afternoon for the General Tire 200. A pair of Venturini Motorsports cars were on the front row as Ryan Repko was the pole sitter and Drew Dollar next to him. Right behind them were Hailie Deegan and Riley Herbst.

We are GREEN at 'Dega! Ryan Repko & Drew Dollar lead the field. 📺 @FS1 📻 @MRNRadio / @SIRIUSXM 💻 Race Center -> https://t.co/iqeEBBBgaJ#GeneralTire200 | @TalladegaSuperS pic.twitter.com/yvm8Pc7OXM — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 20, 2020

Right off the bat, Riley Herbst pushed Drew Dollar into the lead, and it did not take long for the field to settle down and get into a single lane. By the tenth lap, the top five cars (Dollar, Herbst, Repko, Deegan, Holmes) pulled away from the field, and Michael Self was left hanging trying to catch up to the leaders. Tanner Gray led another five-pack to chase the leaders down but were unable to lure Michael Self back into the pack.

After Tanner Gray’s pack caught Michael Self, they could not generate the momentum to catch the lead pack. Right behind them were Gus Dean, Thad Moffitt, Scott Melton, and Jason Kitzmiller. Later, Self, Dean, and Moffitt would pull away from Melton and Kitzmiller, leaving it to just the three of them. Meanwhile, there were no changes to the top five as they continued to pull away from the field and began to put other cars a lap down.

Tanner Gray had a spark plug issue and broke away from Dean, Moffitt, and Self. Then it was just down to Moffitt and Self as Dean also had problems with his car. Meanwhile, the top five cars now caught Melton, Kitzmiller, and Ed Pompa to put them a lap down. Self and Moffitt were next in line to be lapped as there were only four laps to go until the competition caution. Riley Herbst broke from the pack to attempt to take the lead from Dollar, but Dollar was still in the lead when the competition caution came out on lap 39. During the caution, Jason Kitzmiller got the free pass, and there were only eight cars now on the lead lap.

"The mid-race break is upon us JUST as it was getting interesting." Top 5 1️⃣ @DrewDollar00 2️⃣ @rileyherbst 3️⃣ @RyanRepko_ 4️⃣ @bretholmes_2 5️⃣ @HailieDeegan #GeneralTire200 | @TalladegaSuperS pic.twitter.com/44zquWOnEg — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 20, 2020

The cars came onto pit road to get new tires and fuel. The race restarted on lap 42 with Herbst and Dollar on the front row. Herbst would lead the pack as the field began to get into a single file.

We're back.@DrewDollar00 & @RileyHerbst lead the field back to green. Run to the 🏁 on: 📺 @FS1 📻 @MRNRadio / @SIRIUSXM 💻 Race Center -> https://t.co/iqeEBBBgaJ#GeneralTire200 | @TalladegaSuperS pic.twitter.com/iqesOz4e2L — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 20, 2020

Deegan restarted in the fourth position and fell to the seventh position. After getting into a single file lane, the top seven cars pulled away. Herbst, Dollar, Repko, Holmes, and Self pulled away from Moffitt and Deegan to make it a five-car pack. Both Moffitt and Deegan were trailing the five cars by 1.30 seconds. That number was only growing as the laps ticked away.

With 20 laps to go, Moffitt and Deegan were now back almost five seconds from the leaders. There were no changes to the top five as Herbst continued to lead with Dollar, Repko, Holmes, and Self. As the top five cars continued to stay single file, Thad Moffitt, Hailie Deegan teamed up with a lap down car Tanner Gray to try to catch up to the leaders. The only way to catch up to the leaders was for a caution to come out or the front pack to break momentum if they were even to have a shot at getting back into the race.

The lead pack was now dealing with lapped down cars with ten laps to go in the race. Ryan Repko got hung out by a lap car allowing Brett Holmes and Michael Self to get by as he sat in the fifth position. He lost all kinds of momentum, and now it was down to Herbst, Dollar, Holmes, and Self with eight laps to go. Dollar did not wait and tried to go for the lead; however, he made contact with Herbst, but Herbst remained in the lead, and Dollar was now in the fourth position.

Once the battle settled, Repko caught back up and got by Dollar for the fourth position. Self would go for the lead with two to go and would make contact with Herbst, saving his car after a 360-degree spin, which made for an incredible save. Dollar was left in the lead by himself with Repko and Holmes gaining on him. Drew Dollar would hold on to get his first career win, winning the General Dollar 200. Ryan Repko finished second, Brett Holmes third, Riley Herbst fourth, and Michael Self fifth.

"Drew Dollar. Right Place, right time." Here's the winning move, as @DrewDollar00 avoids the spin at the front of the field.#ARCAMenards | #GeneralTire200 pic.twitter.com/ans9ClEH5R — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 20, 2020

"In just his 5th race, Drew Dollar will be an #ARCAMenards Series winner!" What a Last Lap 🏁 pic.twitter.com/4m5u5E9CO7 — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 20, 2020

The rest of the top ten finishes Thad Moffitt sixth, Hailie Deegan seventh, Jason Kitzmiller eighth, Sean Corr ninth, and Ed Pompa tenth. With the win, Venturini Motorsports has now won the first three races of the 2020 season.

Drew Dollar led the first 39 laps of the race until the competition caution came out. Once the race resumed, Herbst led from lap 40 on until getting into Michael Self with two laps to go. The next race for the ARCA Menards Series will be next Friday from Pocono Raceway for the General Tire #Anywhereispossible 200 at 6 pm on FS1.

#ARCA #ARCAMenards