2024 Pensacola 150

2024 Pensacola 150
Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 1 of 8 of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East
Date March 23, 2024
Official name 5th Annual Pensacola 150
Location Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
0.5 mi (0.80 km)
Distance 150 laps, 75 mi (120 km)
Scheduled Distance 150 laps, 75 mi (120 km)
Average speed 74.298 mph (119.571 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 17.126
Most laps led
Driver William Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 80
Winner
No. 20 Gio Ruggiero Venturini Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network FloRacing
Announcers Charles Krall
Radio in the United States
Radio ARCA Racing Network

The 2024 Pensacola 150 was the first stock car race of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East season, and the 5th running of the event. The race was held on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, a 0.5 mile (0.80 km) permanent asphalt oval shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 150 laps to complete. In a thrilling race that featured an intense battle between Gio Ruggiero and William Sawalich, Ruggiero, driving for Venturini Motorsports, would take the lead from Sawalich on the final restart following the race break, and held him off for the final 70 laps to earn his first career ARCA Menards Series East win.[5] Sawalich, who started on the pole, dominated the first half of the race, leading a race-high 80 laps before losing the lead on the final restart and ultimately finished 2nd. To fill out the podium, Bubba Pollard, driving for Phoenix Racing, would finish 3rd, respectively.

Report

Background

Five Flags Speedway, the circuit where the race will be held.

Five Flags Speedway is a half-mile (0.8 km) paved oval racetrack in Pensacola, Florida. It opened in 1953 and is located on Pine Forest Road.[6] It is christened after the nickname of Pensacola—"City of Five Flags."[7]

It runs several local classes during the regular racing season (March – October). These classes include Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, Pro Trucks, Outlaw Stocks, Sportsman, and Pure Stocks. The races are usual held on Friday nights bi-weekly. The track has also hosted many regional touring series.[8][9]

In 2019, the ARCA Menards Series returned to the track, but for one year only. After the merge between ARCA and NASCAR after the 2019 season, the former NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, (now called ARCA Menards Series East) began racing at Five Flags in 2020.

Entry list

  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
0 Nate Moeller Wayne Peterson Racing Ford Wayne Peterson Racing
1 Bubba Pollard Phoenix Racing Chevrolet Phoenix
06 Cody Dennison (R) Wayne Peterson Racing Toyota ToolGanizer
07 Tyler Scofield Scofield Motorsports Chevrolet JXT Transportation
10 Mike Basham Fast Track Racing Ford Diesel Boys LLC / Double "H" Ranch
11 Zachary Tinkle Fast Track Racing Toyota Fast Track Racing
12 Presley Sorah Fast Track Racing Toyota OEM Pensacola / Tatanka Sauce
18 William Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Starkey / SoundGear
20 Gio Ruggiero (R) Venturini Motorsports Toyota JBL
28 Connor Zilisch (R)[a] Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet Chevrolet / Silver Hare Development
31 Rita Goulet Rise Motorsports Chevrolet Nationalpolice.org / Backthelane.com
39 D. L. Wilson Costner Weaver Motorsports Toyota ETR / Wilson Traditional Metals
55 Jake Finch Venturini Motorsports Toyota Phoenix Construction
93 Colton Collins Costner Weaver Motorsports Chevrolet Cooper Marketing Unlimited
95 Hunter Wright MAN Motorsports Toyota Wilson County Visitors Bureau
99 Michael Maples (R) Fast Track Racing Chevrolet Don Ray Petroleum / Maples Motorsports
Official entry list

Notes

  1. ^ Due to Connor Zilisch being at Circuit of the Americas for the NASCAR Truck Series race, Luke Fenhaus practiced and qualified Zilisch's No. 28 car. Zilisch was able to make the race.

Practice

The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, March 23, at 2:30 PM EST, and would last for 60 minutes.[10] Jake Finch, driving for Venturini Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 17.479, and a speed of 102.981 mph (165.732 km/h).[11]

Pos.[12] # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 55 Jake Finch Venturini Motorsports Toyota 17.479 102.981
2 18 William Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 17.511 102.793
3 1 Bubba Pollard Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 17.707 101.655
Full practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, March 23, at 5:00 PM EST.[10] The qualifying system used is a single-car, two-lap based system. All drivers will be on track by themselves and will have two laps to post a qualifying time. The driver who sets the fastest time in qualifying will win the pole.[13]

William Sawalich, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 17.126, and a speed of 105.103 mph (169.147 km/h).[14]

Three drivers withdrew from the race: Ed Pompa, Brad Smith, and Dale Shearer.

Qualifying results

Pos.[15] # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 18 William Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 17.126 105.103
2 55 Jake Finch Venturini Motorsports Toyota 17.229 104.475
3 28 Luke Fenhaus Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet 17.285 104.137
4 20 Gio Ruggiero (R) Venturini Motorsports Toyota 17.319 103.932
5 1 Bubba Pollard Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 17.449 103.158
6 95 Hunter Wright MAN Motorsports Toyota 17.879 100.677
7 07 Tyler Scofield Scofield Motorsports Chevrolet 17.892 100.604
8 11 Zachary Tinkle Fast Track Racing Toyota 18.173 99.048
9 39 D. L. Wilson Costner Weaver Motorsports Toyota 18.526 97.161
10 10 Mike Basham Fast Track Racing Ford 18.599 96.779
11 93 Colton Collins Costner Weaver Motorsports Chevrolet 18.687 96.324
12 06 Cody Dennison (R) Wayne Peterson Racing Toyota 18.757 95.964
13 99 Michael Maples (R) Fast Track Racing Chevrolet 19.034 94.568
14 31 Rita Goulet Rise Motorsports Chevrolet 19.557 92.039
15 12 Presley Sorah Fast Track Racing Toyota 19.712 91.315
16 0 Nate Moeller Wayne Peterson Racing Ford – –
Withdrew
10 Ed Pompa Fast Track Racing Ford
48 Brad Smith Brad Smith Motorsports Ford
98 Dale Shearer Shearer Speed Racing Toyota
Official qualifying results

Race results

Fin[16] St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts
1 4 20 Gio Ruggiero (R) Venturini Motorsports Toyota 150 70 Running 47
2 1 18 William Sawalich Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 150 80 Running 45
3 3 1 Bubba Pollard Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 149 0 Running 41
4 3 28 Connor Zilisch (R) Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet 148 0 Running 40
5 6 95 Hunter Wright MAN Motorsports Toyota 148 0 Running 39
6 10 10 Mike Basham Fast Track Racing Ford 145 0 Running 38
7 2 55 Jake Finch Venturini Motorsports Toyota 144 0 Running 37
8 8 11 Zachary Tinkle Fast Track Racing Toyota 144 0 Running 36
9 9 39 D. L. Wilson Costner Weaver Motorsports Toyota 142 0 Running 35
10 12 06 Cody Dennison (R) Wayne Peterson Racing Toyota 142 0 Running 34
11 11 93 Colton Collins Costner Weaver Motorsports Chevrolet 141 0 Running 33
12 13 99 Michael Maples (R) Fast Track Racing Chevrolet 131 0 Running 32
13 14 31 Rita Goulet Rise Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 Running 31
14 15 12 Presley Sorah Fast Track Racing Toyota 42 0 Electrical 30
15 7 07 Tyler Scofield Scofield Motorsports Chevrolet 29 0 Alternator 29
16 16 0 Nate Moeller Wayne Peterson Racing Ford 2 0 Engine 28
Withdrew
10 Ed Pompa Fast Track Racing Ford
48 Brad Smith Brad Smith Motorsports Ford
98 Dale Shearer Shearer Speed Racing Toyota
Official race results

Standings after the race

References

  1. ^ "Pensacola 150 at Five Flags Speedway". ARCA Racing. December 12, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "Entry list: Pensacola 150 at Five Flags Speedway". ARCA Racing. March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  3. ^ "Qualifying results: Pensacola 150 at Five Flags Speedway". ARCA Racing. March 23, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "Race results: Pensacola 150 at Five Flags Speedway". ARCA Racing. March 23, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Branscum, Benjamine (March 23, 2024). "Gio Ruggiero Gets It Done In Five Flags, Wins The Pensacola 150". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  6. ^ "Track History". Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  7. ^ "Five Flags of Derby". Archived from the original on December 1, 2010.
  8. ^ "NASCAR results at Five Flags Speedway". Racing Reference. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  9. ^ "Schedule". Archived from the original on March 17, 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Schedule of events: Pensacola 150 at Five Flags Speedway". ARCA Racing. February 22, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  11. ^ "Practice results: Pensacola 150 at Five Flags Speedway". ARCA Racing. March 23, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  12. ^ "2024 Pensacola 150 Practice Results". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Fenwick, Adam (March 18, 2024). "PIT BOX: ARCA Menards Series East season roars to life Saturday at Five Flags Speedway". ARCA Racing. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  14. ^ Calloni, Josh (March 23, 2024). "William Sawalich On Pole for ARCA East Season Opener". Frontstretch.com. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  15. ^ "2024 Pensacola 150 Qualifying Results". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "2024 Pensacola 150 - The Third Turn". The Third Turn. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
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