TALLADEGA, Ala. – Becoming the first driver to lead every lap, Jake Finch won the General Tire 200 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in dominating fashion.
As the third event of the 2024 season, it was Finch’s first of his career of 11 ARCA Menards Series starts.
“I was just trying to stay locked in,” shared Finch in Victory Lane. “I was a nervous wreck before this race, but [my crew chief] Shannon [Rusch] told me that if I do what I’m supposed to do, we’ll kick their butts. I think that’s what we did.
“Terrible burnout, but if we keep running this No. 20 with Shannon, I think we’ll get a few more.”
Paper may have shown a dominating win, but the final laps challenged Finch to hold off the rest of the top five. Christian Rose stepped out of line attempting to make the pass, but with no drafting help from any of the others, it left his No. 32 AM Racing Ford on its own, dropping him to fifth. Kris Wright and Tanner Gray weaved around to look for a pass on Finch, but couldn’t build a strong enough run before the checkered flag waved.
Still, it was the best career finish for both Wright and Gray, and a first-time inheritance of the championship points lead for Rose.
“I definitely could have made some more aggressive moves, but I wanted to keep that victory in the Venturini camp,” said Venturini Motorsports teammate Wright. “I didn’t want to give it to the Gibbs guys or [Christian Rose], so I was trying to be a team player there.”
In the mix was Daytona winner Gus Dean crossing the line fourth.
Sean Corr, Amber Balcaen, Andres Perez, Frankie Muniz and Toni Breidinger completed the top 10 finishing positions.
After a six-weekend break, the ARCA Menards Series will race again on Friday at Dover Motor Speedway for the General Tire 150, with coverage beginning at 5 p.m. ET on FS1, the Fox Sports App and ARCARacing.com.