Event statistics following the fourth race of the 2018 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season, the General Tire 200 on Friday, April 27, at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
Zane Smith recorded his series-leading second victory of the season, besting rookie Joseph Graf Jr. in a photo finish (computers showed 0.0029 seconds) that marked the closest race finish in ARCA history. Third was Michael Self, followed by Sheldon Creed and Josh Williams.
General Tire 200
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Alabama
- Winner (starting position): Zane Smith (8th)
- Top Five: Zane Smith, Joseph Graf Jr., Michael Self, Sheldon Creed, Josh Williams
- Full Results: Zane Smith, Joseph Graf Jr., Michael Self, Sheldon Creed, Josh Williams, Max Tullman, Brandon Lynn, Bobby Gerhart, Travis Braden, Andy Seuss, Bryan Dauzat, Gus Dean, Blaine Perkins, Con Nicolopoulos, Jesse Iwuji, Dave Mader III, Riley Herbst, Rob Powers, D.L. Wilson, Brandon Grosso, Thomas Praytor, Leilani Munter, Sean Corr, Codie Rohrbaugh, Chase Purdy, Bo LeMastus, Bret Holmes, Natalie Decker, Ed Pompa, Kevin Hinckle, Brad Smith
- Laps Completed: 87
- Laps Led: Sheldon Creed (23), Michael Self (21), Zane Smith (16), Blaine Perkins (12), Bret Holmes (6), Max Tullman (5), Chase Purdy (4)
- Pole Position: Michael Self (181.953 mph; 52.629 mph)
- Hard Charger: Brandon Grosso (+17; 26th to 9th)
- Margin of Victory: 0.0029 seconds
- Car Count: 31
- Cars Entered: 31
- Cars Running at Finish: 22 (of 31; or 71 percent of the field)
- Drivers to Finish on Lead Lap: 19
- Cautions: 7 for 38 laps
- Average Speed: 115.007 mph
- Lead Changes: 16
Notes of Interest – Race/Weekend Recap
- This is Zane Smith’s second career ARCA victory, both within the last three races. Smith also won the race earlier this month at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville in Tennessee.
- Zane Smith is the first driver with multiple victories in ARCA this season. Michael Self and Christian Eckes each have one victory.
- Smith’s victory is the first for the Californian at Talladega. He is the 28th driver in 40 ARCA races at Talladega to win the race. Justin Haley was the most recent, winning the 2017 race.
- Smith has now finished third or better in six of his last seven races, with the race at Daytona the lone exception (finished 26th). He has two wins, three runner-up finishes and one third.
- Smith has finished in the top 10 in 15 of his 20 career races in ARCA competition.
- Smith won from the eighth starting position. It marked the first time a driver had won from eighth since Michael Self ended the 2017 season winning from eighth at Kansas Speedway.
- Smith is the first driver to win a race at Talladega from the eighth starting position.
- Smith won the race by .0029 seconds, the closest finish in ARCA history.
- Smith has led 161 laps this season, seven short of Chandler Smith’s 168 laps led. Zane Smith is the only driver to lead laps in all four races in 2018.
- Toyotas have won each of the first four races.
- Rookie Joseph Graf Jr. finished a career-best second, in his third career ARCA race. A Ford driver, Graf has improved in each of his first three races, finishing 16th at Nashville, 11th at Salem and second at Talladega.
- Daytona race winner and Talladega polesitter Michael Self was third, after leading 21 laps. It marked his first career ARCA pole.
- Despite skipping the race at Salem, Self sits in the top 10 in points, and has finished fourth or better in all three races in which he’s contested.
- Sheldon Creed finished fourth. Creed has finished fourth or better in all four races this season, and is the only driver to finish in the top-five in all four races in 2018. Creed led a race-high 23 laps.
- Creed is also the only driver to complete all 579 laps this season.
- Josh Williams finished fifth in his season debut, and was the highest-finishing Chevrolet driver. Williams is one of five drivers to compete in their first race of the season at Talladega; the others were Brandon Lynn (seventh); Blaine Perkins (13th, led 12 laps); Rob Powers (18th); and Kevin Hinckle (30th).
- In his second race of the season, Max Tullman finished sixth (led five laps), as he did in the season-opener at Daytona. Likewise, Bobby Gerhart was eighth, bettering his Daytona appearance of 12th.
- Travis Braden was ninth, his best finish in four races this season.
- Andy Seuss rounded out the top 10, finishing 10th in his second ARCA race of 2018.
- Others to record or tie their season-best finishes were: Bryan Dauzat (11th); Con Nicolopoulos (14th); Jesse Iwuji (15th); Dave Mader III (16th); D.L. Wilson (19th); Codie Rohrbaugh (24th); Bo LeMastus (26th); and Ed Pompa (29th).
- A total of 22 cars finished the race.
- A total of 15 drivers improved on their starting position in the race.
- The next race will be Sunday, May 20, with the Menards 200 Presented by Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway in Ohio.
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