In the first race of the Chase at Riki Raceway, there were several wild moments that led to a non-Chaser—a shame to say for this particular driver—edged out a couple of Chasers. Grayson Acevedo had a big lead sliced just a few laps from the finish by Reece Butcher and John Arndt, but the lapped car of Matt Johnson broke the momentum the Chasers carried into the white flag. Butcher and Arndt drafted back up to Acevedo’s bumper but were unable to break up his upset. Ultimately, Butcher would finish second and Arndt third. Jonny Gardner and NascarMan#1 rounded out the top five.
Three Takeaways: One Race Late: Acevedo finally grabbed the victory he was after, but for it to come in the first race of the Chase, where he was the favorite to be an at-large driver on points going into Greenville-Pickens Speedway, is a mellow feeling for that team. Still, the #04 car asserted its place in the series and they can hope that this win will mean better things for next season. No Clinchers: Butcher and Arndt had a lot more to compete for besides a win. Coming first at Riki would have been an automatic qualifier for either of those two drivers into the Round of 12. Instead, neither of them would get the nod and they would have to settle for good points days. Arndt, who was sitting at 2000 points without a win, can really build off of the top three momentum to put together a good run before everyone is on equal playing ground. The Big One…Thrice: The race at Riki saw three caution flags. While some accidents were bigger than others, every one of them involved a Chaser in some capacity. Because of this, many drivers had to drop out of the race, leaving the six Chasers who were able to finish the race under power with a solid point bonus before the other two races in the Round of 16. |
Archives
September 2023
Categories |