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ARCA Preview: General Tire 100 at The Glen

The ARCA Menards Series kicks off the race weekend at Watkins Glen International on Friday (Sept. 13), and with 29 drivers entered, it’s anyone’s race, right?

Well, yes and no.

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No, it could be a two-man show featuring William Sawalich and Connor Zilisch. They are the top two in victories and laps led this year, and they enter as the favorites.

Zilisch nearly won at The Glen last year in his series debut, until 2023 champion Jesse Love took the lead in the final corners en route to a 0.195-second victory over Zilisch.

Zilisch also scored the pole in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at fellow road course Circuit of the Americas. He will be stout on Friday. Furthermore, he’s making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut Saturday at the same track. Eyes will certainly be on him.

Sawalich finished fourth in the ’23 ARCA race at The Glen. Since then, he’s improved his road-course racing skills. He won at Portland International Raceway in the ARCA Menards Series West and the other road course in the national division this year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“Our road course program this year has been really strong,” Sawalich said in a release. “Last year we had good speed at Watkins Glen, just needed to work on some little things. I’ve been doing some work with Jack Hawksworth on the simulator to get ready for the road courses, so I feel confident going into this weekend.”

Speaking of that Mid-Ohio race, it was Connor Mosack who crossed the finish line first. Yet series officials ruled he jumped the previous restart, so he therefore was penalized, handing the win to Sawalich.

Mosack will also be in the field at Watkins Glen, driving the No. 23 for Sigma Performance Services. The young organization has significantly improved in its first full-time West season, scoring the win at Sonoma Raceway with Sam Mayer behind the wheel.

Now the team has Mosack, and its odds of winning are just as high. Mosack has three starts in his racing career at Watkins Glen, earning a fifth-place result in the 2023 Xfinity Series race while driving for Sam Hunt Racing.

“We’re thrilled to have Connor join our team for this race,” team owner Joe Farre said in a release. “His performance on the track speaks for itself, and we’re confident that he’ll excel at The Glen.”

Mosack has already been to victory lane once this year in ARCA competition at the first Kansas Speedway event. If he leaves Watkins Glen with the trophy, he’d become only the third driver with multiple wins this season, joining Sawalich and Zilisch.

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Other than those three, Thomas Annunziata stands out as a candidate to pull an upset. In his series debut at Daytona International Speedway, he finished second. Then at Mid-Ohio, he momentarily took the lead in the closing laps, but a nudge from Mosack left Annunziata with a fourth-place showing.

Annunziata, who has a road course background, is back in team owner Jeff McClure’s No. 44 with a brand-new paint scheme.

“In my honest opinion, I think road course racing takes more skill in order to get around the racetrack and be quick at,” Annunziata told ARCA Racing. “But the oval racing itself in my opinion is a little bit harder because you can’t just send it, right? You could take 10 laps to get around some people, so that’s first of all one of the reasons I went down the road course route is … because it requires more driving talent, and thankfully NASCAR is going that direction.”

Lastly, did anyone have two father-and-son duos competing in ARCA this year? To all of you who raised your hands, liars.

For everyone else, Dale and Alex Quarterley are the second father-son duo to do so, joining Brian and Alex Clubb.

Dale Quarterley is a seasoned road course ringer too.

Dale has a pair of ARCA Menards Series East victories at Lime Rock Park. In his ARCA series 14-race record at The Glen, he has four top fives, seven top 10s, two poles and 93 laps led.

As for Alex, he has longtime ARCA owner/driver Willie Mullins serving as his crew chief.

“Alex’s main goal for Watkins Glen would simply be to make it to the end for his first career ARCA start, but [he] would also love to end up in the top 10 if possible,” Rubbin’s Racing News writer Adam Relkin wrote. “Alex will be driving the same car that Dale drove at the West Series events of Sonoma and Portland this year, while Dale will be in the car that he raced at Mid-Ohio.”

The Quarterleys will firmly be in the mix alongside Sawalich, Zilisch, Mosack, Annunziata and the rest of the field.

The 41-lap race at Watkins Glen will take place on Friday, Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.

About the author

Frontstretch.com

Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.

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