By Christian Koelle, Staff Writer
Ty Gibbs just cannot be stopped.
Gibbs dominated Friday’s race at Mid-Ohio en-route to his fourth straight victory of 2021, fifth this season.
Gibbs had to hold off NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular Austin Hill for the victory, but with a 3.307-second margin victory, there wasn’t much to hold off. Much like he has been all season long, Gibbs was in dominant form Friday.
“It’s definitely nice because I feel like that’s the points lead after he jumped the start,” said Gibbs. “That’s nice. I’m really relaxed right now and happy… this is just awesome. Won at Mid-Ohio so hopefully, we can make it two in a row and win tomorrow.”
“I learned a lot of stuff,” Gibbs said about running double-duty at Mid-Ohio. He will start second. “More track time than anything. I got some in 2019 but it’s been so long since then and I’ve grown as a person. Sometimes 18-year-olds forget that. I got a lot of track time and hopefully, Chris Gabehart and the guys have it set up for tomorrow.”
Corey Heim was able to capture his first career General Tire Pole Award earlier in the day and was the only driver in the field that could honestly challenge Gibbs. Xfinity Series regular Brandon Jones battled with him during the early stages of the race but once Gibbs got out, he was gone.
Heim managed to gain the lead back, after losing it early, with around 20 laps to go but the black flag would be displayed to the No. 20 car for jumping the restart. While serving his penalty, the speeding police snagged Heim which resulted in another pass-through penalty. He would finish Friday’s race in the seventh position, the last car on the lead lap.
.@CoreyHeim3 gets a pass-through penalty for jumping the restart@TyGibbs_ will retake the lead@FS1 | @MRNRadio pic.twitter.com/4ZrqwE7OEO
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 4, 2021
“My Venturini Motorsports Camry today was really good,” said Heim. “We came a long way. We were a little off in practice. I feel like we could have competed for the win at the end there. Just unfortunate.”
Hill, Thad Moffitt, Jones, and Nick Sanchez rounded out the top five.
Results from the 2021 Dawn 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
The ARCA Menards Series takes a few weeks off. The series will return to action on June 25th at the Pocono Raceway for the General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200. The race will be the third in a row to be broadcasted live on FOX Sports 1. It goes live at 6 p.m. ET and will also be broadcasted on MRN / SiriusXM (XM channel 391, online channel 981). Tickets are available starting at $10 by clicking here.
Photo: Stephen Conley