Brandon Jones scored his third career ARCA Racing Series victory Friday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway. Photo: ARCA Media
Brandon Jones took advantage of the speed in his own No. 8 Menards-Valvoline Chevrolet and Kyle Weatherman’s empty gas tank to win the Friday’s ARCA Racing Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Late race leader Weatherman gambled on fuel but ran well short when his No. 58 St. Charles Glass Ford ran dry four laps from the finish. From there, Jones cruised under the checkered flag more than six seconds ahead of his closest rival Chase Briscoe.
“I really wasn’t too worried about the 58,” the Atlanta, Georgia driver said. “I really didn’t know their game plan or what fuel cycle they were on, but I was definitely confident in our game plan. We had an awesome Menards-Valvoline Chevy all week. This is my first time being here at Michigan…pretty cool to get a win in ARCA’s backyard.”
It was Jones’ third career ARCA Racing Series victory and first for his team – Ranier Racing with MDM.
Briscoe’s second-place finish padded his point lead after eight events.
“Great points day,” Briscoe said. “Obviously you want to win but big picture-wise we’re in a good place. Hopefully, we can take what we learned today and use it to our advantage at the next one. This is our best finish so far, but we want to win one for sure.”
Jones’ teammate Kyle Benjamin led one lap and finished third.
“We had a really good car,” Benjamin said. “I’m proud of all the guys…we’ll get it better next time. This series is about getting experience and I feel like we did that today. I’d like to thank FEVR for coming on board this season. We’ll try and get ’em next time.”
With an empty tank, Weatherman lost two laps getting back to pit road, relegating the Wentzville, Missouri driver to 12th in the final running order.
“We knew we were way tight on fuel, but gambled it anyway,” Weatherman said. “That’s what you have to do sometimes to win. I’m really proud of all our guys…they battled through some issues and gave us a shot at the win.”
Briscoe led the first 30 laps from the outside front row starting position and pulled away by more than a second early on before Jones began to reel him in. Jones got to within a length of the leader before the first caution waved on lap 28. Both Briscoe and Jones came down pit road for service; however, Jones beat Briscoe off to take the lead.
Back under green, Jones and Briscoe continued to race for the lead and swapped the top spot on lap 37. Jones took it right back to lead the 38th lap. In clean air, Jones began to show his strength and pulled away.
“Our car was really tight behind the 77,” Jones added. “But once we got out of dirty air, it really freed the car up and we were able to drive off. General Tire brought another great tire today. There’s not much fall-off and it’s got really good grip. The composite body car was awesome. It gets a little tight behind other cars but that’s not uncommon. It’s definitely the way to go for sure. I’m so glad to be back in victory lane. We won in our first two ARCA starts, but it’s been a while.”
Jones only gave up the lead once more when he and Briscoe pitted under green for gas on the 79th lap. That handed the lead to Weatherman who chose to stay out. Weatherman led 17 laps up through lap 96 before he ran out of gas.
Travis Braden finished fourth, the only steel bodied car to finish in the top ten. Matt Tifft finished fifth, the last car on the lead lap.
Watkinsville, Georgia’s Brady Boswell, A.J. Fike, Matt Kurzejewski, Dalton Sargeant and Shane Lee rounded out the top ten.
Just two cautions for minor incidents slowed the race for 15 laps.
The ARCA Racing Series heads next to Madison International Speedway for the Montgomery Ward Father’s Day 200 next Sunday, June 19.
ARCA Racing Series
Michigan International Speedway – Brooklyn, MI
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FIN NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN LAPS STATUS
1. 8 Brandon Jones/Atlanta GA 100 Running
2. 77 Chase Briscoe/Mitchell IN 100 Running
3. 28 Kyle Benjamin/Easley SC 100 Running
4. 01 Travis Braden/Wheeling WV 100 Running
5. 15 Matt Tifft/Hinckley OH 100 Running
6. 98 Brady Boswell/Watkinsville GA 99 Running
7. 27 A.J. Fike/Galesburg IL 99 Running
8. 52 Matt Kurzejewski/Mansfield PA 99 Running
9. 55 Dalton Sargeant/Boca Raton FL 99 Running
10. 32 Shane Lee/Newton NC 99 Running
11. 2 Sarah Cornett Ching/Summerland BC 99 Running
12. 58 Kyle Weatherman/Wentzville MO 98 Running
13. 51 Chad Finley/DeWitt MI 96 Running
14. 9 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL 95 Running
15. 08 Nick Higdon/Big Clifty KY 94 Running
16. 20 Tom Berte/New Berlin WI 92 Running
17. 64 Morgen Baird/Jackson MI 90 Running
18. 38 Sheldon Creed/Alpine CA 87 Out
19. 48 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI 86 Running
20. 6 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL 69 Out
21. 25 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ 58 Out
22. 34 Michael Basham/Henryville IN 44 Out
23. 22 Myatt Snider/Charlotte NC 38 Out
24. 19 David Sear/LaJolla CA 38 Out
25. 14 Dustin Knowles/Moody AL 26 Out
26. 10 Dick Doheny/Ballston Spa NY 17 Out
27. 0 Richard Hauck/Howell MI 13 Out
28. 65 Jeffery MacZink/Brownstown MI 10 Out
29. 36 Michael Lira/Port Orange FL 7 Out
30. 23 Chris Bailey Jr./South Park PA 4 Out
31. 06 Con Nicolopoulos/Columbus MI 3 Out
32. 00 Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN 2 Out
DNS: 42 Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY
DNS: 69 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN
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