Ahead of Sunday’s Illinois Truck & Equipment Allen Crowe 100 on the Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, rookie ARCA Menards Series driver Hailie Deegan said the one-mile dirt track would be tough even for experienced dirt racers.
Nobody told that to Ryan Unzicker.
The 39-year-old dirt track ringer from nearby El Paso, Illinois, won his first career ARCA Menards Series race Sunday in his 20th start. After starting on the pole, he led all but one lap and dominated the race from beginning to end.
“To lead all 100 laps here at the Springfield Mile, I don’t even know what to say yet,” said Unzicker. “Very proud of my team, and I’m glad we got this new race car.”
Unzicker indeed was in a new No. 24 Chevrolet for Bill Hendren, who said during Sunday’s ARCA Menards Series broadcast he knew he needed a new car after Unzicker placed ninth at Springfield last season.
Hendren, whose tenure at Springfield goes back to the 1970s, has longest active streak of any participant in the Illinois Truck & Equipment Allen Crowe 100.
Deegan, who led at the line on a Lap 101 restart, finished second after a wreck with three laps to go took contenders Michael Self and Corey Heim out of the race. Self’s DNF paved the way for Bret Holmes, who finished third at Springfield, to clinch the 2020 CGS Imaging Four Crown.
Taylor Gray and Kelly Kovski rounded out the top five.
Mike Basham and Drew Dollar finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with Heim and Self credited for eighth- and ninth-place finishes after their crash on lap 97 that forced overtime.
Ty Gibbs, who had won the previous two series races entering Sunday’s event, got caught up in a turn 4 accident on the opening lap. He finished 10th.
Holmes (910 points) now has a seven-point lead over Self (903) in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings heading into the season finale.
The 2020 ARCA Menards Series season will conclude Friday, October 16, with a race at Kansas Speedway.
ARCA Menards Series
Illinois State Fairgrounds – Springfield, IL
Illinois Truck & Equipment Allen Crowe 100 – October 4, 2020
1. Ryan Unzicker
2. Hailie Deegan
3. Bret Holmes
4. Taylor Gray
5. Kelly Kovski
6. Mike Basham
7. Drew Dollar
8. Corey Heim
9. Michael Self
10. Ty Gibbs
11. Tim Richmond
12. Tim Monroe
13. Brad Smith
14. Will Kimmel
15. Owen Smith
16. Eric Caudell
