For the first time since September 22nd, 2017, the ARCA Menards Series headed to the Bluegrass state at Kentucky Speedway for the General Tire 150. The last driver to win at Kentucky Speedway was Austin Theriault, who won his seventh race of the 2017 season at Kentucky Speedway and would go on to win the championship that year. Venturini Motorsports had three of their cars starting in the top four positions with Michael Self on the pole, and next to him was Ryan Repko. ARCA officials put in two breaks at laps 30 and 60.
We are 🟢 at @KySpeedway Catch it on @FS1 #GeneralTire150 | #ARCAMenards pic.twitter.com/WlGGNfO74e — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
Michael Self led the field to the green flag and got a massive jump to the front. He continued to lead when the first caution came out at lap 18 when the number 69 car, driven by Scott Melton, pancaked the outside wall coming off of turn two. Melton would come to pit road to fix the damage on the right rear. The race got back underway with ten laps to go before the first break. At lap 25, Ty Gibbs passed Michael Self on the inside of turn four to take the lead. Self would lose the second position to Bret Holmes, settling for third. Gibbs was ahead of Holmes by .84 seconds when the caution flag came out. Teams were allowed five minutes to work on their cars and change tires.
"And guess what, we've got a new race leader. It's @TyGibbs_ " 📺 @FS1 #GeneralTire150 | @KySpeedway pic.twitter.com/vO6S45B4EK — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
Once the break ended, Ty Gibbs led the field back to green on lap 35. He spun his tires on the restart but did not lose the lead. Bret Holmes was chasing him after getting by Self for the second position. He challenged Gibbs for the lead; however, the outside lane helped Gibbs keep the lead and pull away. Michael Self was able to catch up to Holmes to retake the second position and set his sights on Gibbs. Both cars were dealing with lapped down cars as the laps winded down to the second break. Michael Self was trailing Gibbs by .24 seconds when the third caution came out at lap 62. Once again, teams had five minutes to work on their cars and change tires. When the cars returned to the track, there would only be 36 laps to go.
60 in the books. 40 to go. 1⃣ @TyGibbs_ 2⃣ @michaelself 3⃣ @bretholmes_2 4⃣ @sam_mayer_ 5⃣ @HailieDeegan#GeneralTire150 | @KySpeedway pic.twitter.com/ZLZfGVg6Yr — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
Gibbs led the field to the restart with 36 laps to go, both Gibbs and Self were battling for the lead when Self got loose and slid up to Gibbs’s car at turn four. Both drivers saved their cars, and the race stayed green with Sam Mayer taking the lead. A lap later, Bret Holmes passed Mayer for the lead. Self was ahead of Gibbs, and Gibbs got payback as he moved Self up the turn two wall. The fourth caution would come out with 30 laps to go as Thad Moffitt got loose at turn two, and his rear hit the outside wall ending his day.
Close quarters racing on the restart! 😱 And @bretholmes_2 is your new leader.#GeneralTire150 | @FS1 pic.twitter.com/LBo0Wmijbt — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
🚨 Trouble for @ThadMoffitt Brings out the caution. Time to re-rack 'em at @KySpeedway #ARCAMenards | @FS1 pic.twitter.com/XTo4GXxuJM — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
The race resumed with 25 laps to go with Holmes in the lead as Sam Mayer jumped the restart. Coming off of turn two, the fifth caution would come out when Drew Dollar got into Hailie Deegan and turned her into the outside wall, causing damage to the front right rear, her day was done. With the caution out, Sam Mayer would have to go to the rear of the field on the next restart for jumping the last restart.
"We've got @HailieDeegan into the wall!"#GeneralTire150 | @KySpeedway pic.twitter.com/aBIGsDPcae — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
Holmes led the field back to the restart with 19 laps to go, once again, Ty Gibbs spun his tires on the restart. He would catch Holmes and pass him on the inside of the front stretch with 18 laps to go. Once in the lead, Gibbs pulled away and would go on to win the General Tire 150 by 1.247 seconds over the second-place finisher Bret Holmes. This is Gibbs’s second win of the season.
"That's aggressive Ty."@TyGibbs_ back to the lead at @KySpeedway#GeneralTire150 | @FS1 pic.twitter.com/JgdfkXwegV — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
"Ty's turning into a pretty special one." Another 🏁 for @TyGibbs_ #ARCAMenards | #GeneralTire150 pic.twitter.com/oHORHl2aUt — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2020
The rest of the top finishers were Michael Self third, Sam Mayer fourth, Drew Dollar fifth, Ryan Repko sixth, Derek Griffith seventh, Ryan Huff eighth, Tanner Gray ninth, and Jason Kitzmiller tenth.
The points standings right now have Michael Self with 248 points followed by Bret Holmes, and Drew Dollar tied for second trailing by 22 points, Hailie Deegan sits at fourth two points behind both Holmes and Dollar, and Thad Moffitt is fifth 53 points behind Self and 29 points behind Deegan. Ryan Huff, Ty Gibbs, Tanner Gray Sam Mayer, and Chandler Smith wrap up the top ten in points.
There were ten cars on the lead lap, four lead changes, and five cautions for 25 laps. Next up for the ARCA Menards Series is a trip to the Iowa Speedway for the Shore Lunch 150 next Saturday at 6 pm on MAVTV and the NBC Sports Gold Track Pass.
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