TC Daily Pit Stop: Corey Heim Scores Pole; Ankrum Wins ARCA Race at Mid-Ohio; Landen Lewis, Marco Andretti Prepare for Truck Debuts
TC Daily Pit Stop: Saturday, July 8th, 2023
Corey Heim Scores Mid-Ohio Pole; Third Truck Series Pole of 2023
Practice and qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course have been completed. Series point leader Corey Heim has scored the pole position for the event with a fast lap of 86.137 seconds, which equates to a 94.371 mph average speed around the 2.258-mile road course in Lexington, Ohio.
“Last year, as you mentioned we sat on the pole in the wet, and this year in the dry. That really I think is a show of the hard work I’ve put in personally on this track,” Heim stated. “It actually used to be one of my worst tracks. Just kind of preparing for it in ARCA, and the simulator and stuff. To come here and back it up from last year is a special feeling. But last year I could have done a lot better. [I] look back at last year, and to improve on it this year is a big thing for me. I’ve had this race circled on the calendar. So, to come here and start the weekend off right is a big deal for me.”
Ty Majeski will line up alongside Heim on the front row after turning the second-fastest lap in qualifying. Majeski was 0.291 sec. off the fast time set by Heim.
Nick Sanchez will start third, with Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger completing the top-five. Tanner Gray, Marco Andretti, William Sawalich, Jack Wood, and Zane Smith will round out the top-10 starters for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio.
STARTING LINEUP
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Ankrum Accomplishes The Comeback, Wins ARCA Zinsser SmartCoat 150 at Mid-Ohio
It was a knockdown, beat out, fender-banging duel at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and at the end of it all it was NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Tyler Ankrum who took home the checkered flag in the ARCA Menards Series Zinsser SmartCoat 150.
Ankrum and the No. 61 team for Hattori Racing Enterprises didn’t simply cruise to the victory, the 22-year-old racer had to overcome a mid-race spin through the gravel trap, and a fall outside of the top 10 to pull off the stirring victory.
“I was thinking to myself ‘I’m just gonna drive it to the 100, brake, downshift, and turn and it’ll stick. And it did the same exa
ct thing as the first time, but I just couldn’t hang onto it this time,” Ankrum said about the spin in his post-race press conference.
While he knew he had a rocket ship under him in the race, Ankrum had no clue he’d be able to claw his way all the way back to the race lead with so few laps remaining in the race.
William Sawalich came home in second-place, while Jack Wood, Jesse Love, and Dale Quarterley completed the top-five.
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Video: Sean Hingorani Retaliates on Teammate Dean Thompson on Final Lap at Mid-Ohio
Oh. My. Goodness. That’s not what any team owner likes to see. On the final lap of Friday’s ARCA Menards Series Zinsser Smartcoat 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Venturini Motorsports teammates Sean Hingorani and Dean Thompson got together, which resulted in both drivers spinning out.
Thompson, who was heading toward a runner-up finish, wound up in the sand pit instead.
With eight laps to go, after the two made contact several times, Thompson forced Hingorani wide on the exit of Turn 13. This caused Hingorani to skid into the grass, and the driver of the No. 15 car spun out of contention.
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Landen Lewis Draws Comparisons to Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick From Ron Hornaday Jr. Heading into NASCAR Truck Debut
When you have Ron Hornaday Jr. as your mentor, you know you’re going places. That is the case for 17-year-old Landen Lewis, who is making his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in the No. 04 Roper Racing Chevrolet Silverado this weekend.
The rising star is currently leading the ARCA Menards Series West points standings in the No.17 entry for McGowan Motorsports. So far this season, Lewis has captured four top-ten finishes and an impressive win at Portland International Raceway against NASCAR Xfinity Series regular, Cole Custer.
“I have a lot of laps in the sim here already, but the biggest thing is getting used to the truck compared to the ARCA car, thats the big thing,” Lewis explained to TobyChristie.com on Friday. “They’re a lot more top-heavy, a lot more power.”
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‘It’s Still Fun. It’s Just A Different Beast’ Marco Andretti Qualifies Seventh for Truck Series Debut
After a late-week announcement to join the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Marco Andretti showed he was serious about his latest opportunity in the NASCAR National Series as he put his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevy Silverado seventh in Friday’s qualifying session.
The two-time NTT IndyCar Series race winner spoke post-qualifying and said that it helped that he was already familiar with the 13-turn road course in Lexington, Ohio.
“It’s still fun. It’s just a different beast,” Andretti said of racing around the course in a NASCAR Truck as opposed to an IndyCar. “Having laps on the track definitely helped me, because my learning curve was a lot steeper in the [NASCAR] Xfinity car at the [Charlotte] ROVAL. I didn’t enjoy myself at the ROVAL. This is a real race track. [I have] Lots of laps at it. It helps that I didn’t have to learn the track, I just had to learn the truck.”
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