Quick Thinking Pays Off For Drew Dollar At Talladega

Drew Dollar, driver of the #15 Lynx Capital / Dollar Concrete Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway for the ARCA Menards Series on Saturday, June 20, 2020. (Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing)
Drew Dollar celebrates in Victory Lane
Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Drew Dollar had the best view of the battle between race leaders Riley Herbst and Michael Self. And when Self began to go around in a spin on the Talladega Superspeedway backstretch with two laps remaining, it was Dollar who was perfectly positioned.

The 19-year-old from Atlanta took the high lane, avoided the wreck, and drove the No. 15 Lynx Capital-Dollar Concrete his first career ARCA Menards Series victory Saturday in the General Tire 200 at Talladega.

"I definitely needed this one," said Dollar. "The Venturini guys gave me the best car out here today. Had the best team, had the best spotter in the stands, Joe White. He guided me through. We lost a family member over the break, so it’s definitely an emotional one. And this ones for him, I know he’s watching up above."

Dollar edged Ryan Repko at the line by .115 seconds, as the Venturini Motorsports teammates held off third-place Bret Holmes on the final lap. Herbst finished fourth.

Dollar, who had a career-best finish of third at Daytona International Speedway in February, was making his fifth career series start. He also had a pair of fourth-place runs over nine races in the East and West series last year.

<p">Dollar started second after the field was set per the rule book, as the series opted to forgo qualifying in the first race back. He led the first 37 laps before Herbst got by on the restart following the Lap 38 halfway break and led nearly to the end.

The race finished under green in large part to Self’s ability to get his car pointed in the right direction out of the spin. The championship points leader, Self took advantage of the large lead the front five cars had built up in drafting to hang on to a fifth-place finish.

Thad Moffitt finished sixth, followed by Hailie Deegan, Jason Kitzmiller, Sean Corr and Ed Pompa.

Results

Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Status
1 2 15 Drew Dollar Lynx Capital / Dollar Concrete(Bill Venturini) Toyota 76 running
2 1 20 Ryan Repko Venturini Motorsports(Billy Venturini) Toyota 76 running
3 6 23 Bret Holmes Holmes II Excavation, Inc(Stacy Holmes) Chevrolet 76 running
4 4 18 Riley Herbst Monster / Terrible Herbst / ORCA(Coy Gibbs) Toyota 76 running
5 5 25 Michael Self Sinclair Lubricants(Cathy Venturini) Toyota 76 running
6 21 46 Thad Moffitt Richard Petty's Performance Plus(Bo LeMastus) Ford 76 running
7 3 4 Hailie Deegan DGR Crosley(David Gilliland) Ford 76 running
8 20 97 Jason Kitzmiller All Construction(Codie Rohrbaugh) Chevrolet 75 running
9 19 8 Sean Corr Empire Racing(John Corr) Chevrolet 74 running
10 7 12 Ed Pompa Green Renewable Inc / Double H Ranch(Michelle Hillenburg) Toyota 74 running
11 10 69 Scott Melton Melton McFadden Insurance Agency(Bill Kimmel) Ford 74 running
12 11 10 Ryan Huff Land & Coates Outdoor Power Equip(Andy Hillenburg) Toyota 74 running
13 8 17 Tanner Gray Ford Performance(David Gilliland) Ford 74 running
14 17 7 Eric Caudell Caudell Consulting & Marketing(Eric Caudell) Ford 73 running
15 16 22 Brandon Lynn Carolina Excavation & Grading(Chad Bryant) Ford 69 running
16 15 32 Gus Dean MASHONIT Apparel Company(Kevin Cywinski) Chevrolet 58 electrical
17 9 06 Tim Richmond GreatRailing.com(Wayne Peterson) Toyota 34 engine
18 12 11 Willie Mullins Crow Wing Recycling / Bugsy's Repair(Andy Hillenburg) Toyota 24 oil pressure
19 13 01 Tommy Vigh, Jr. Fast Track High Performance Driving(Michelle Hillenburg) Toyota 7 vibration
20 14 48 Brad Smith BradSmithMotorsports.com(Brad Smith) Chevrolet 4 carburetor
21 18 0 Con Nicolopoulos GreatRailing.com(Wayne Peterson) Chevrolet 0 engine