Dalton Sargeant wins ARCA race at Iowa Speedway
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) Dalton Sargeant won the ARCA Racing Series event at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night, holding off points leader Austin Theriault.
The 19-year-old Sargeant, from Boca Raton, Florida, won for the second time this season in the No. 77 Cunningham Motorsports Ford - the ride that Chase Briscoe drove to the series title last year.
Sargeant edged Theriault out of pit road after the final caution came out when Eric Caudell spun on the backstretch.
''This was a really tough race overall,'' Sargeant said. ''The biggest thing was my Cunningham Motorsports crew getting us in and out of pit road in great shape. The car was on the free side in the beginning but it tightened up later in the race. The lane moved up where I thought I was at my best.''
Sargeant is second in the season standings. He also won this year at Salem Speedway in Indiana, and last year at Berlin Raceway in Michigan.
Theriault was second in Ken Schrader's No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Toyota. The Fort Kent, Maine, driver has three victories this year.
''We had a motor issue right before practice and my guys worked so hard and replaced the motor in less than an hour,'' Theriault said. ''We got behind a little, but fought hard all day to get back in it. That last battle with Dalton was pretty intense. We did what we could. He was just a little better. He had a faster car in the end.''
Sargeant had a seven-second lead before the final caution.
''The caution was the last thing I wanted to see,'' Sargeant said. ''It definitely made me nervous, but my guys executed the pit stop perfectly.''
It was a fender-banging drag race down pit road between Sargeant and Theriault.
''I think it really did come down to that,'' Theriault said. ''I felt like the top line was moving a little better, and that would have been our shot to win it. We may have been able to hold him off but he was overall a little better than us.''
Sheldon Creed was third in the 150-lap race on the 0.894-mile oval. Michael Self was fourth, followed by Kyle Weatherman, Vinnie Miller, Spencer Davis, Christian Eckes, Bret Holmes and Gus Dean.
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