Max Reaves won his third consecutive ARCA Menards Series East race at Flat Rock Speedway, dominating the 150-lap race at the quarter-mile bullring.
In doing so, Reaves becomes just the second driver to win three consecutive races in his first three career East starts, joining Will Rodgers.
“I’m gonna be the first one to win four, I’m confident with that,” Reaves told FloRacing. “It was good racing, this is a good track, I love this place.”
Tyler Reif came across the line second after battling with Reaves for much of the event. Takuma Koga overcame an early spin to finish third, spending much of the race inside the top four positions. Crossing the line in fourth was Matt Kemp, with Austin Vaughn coming home fifth.
The remainder of the top 10 saw Zachary Tinkle finish sixth, Isaac Kitzmiller in seventh, Brad Smith in eighth, Jackson McLerran in ninth and Alex Malycke 10th.
Upon the initial fall of the green flag, Reaves cleared second-place starter Kemp with relative ease, bringing Reif through with him. It was clear early that the inside line would dominate on restarts, and the early laps showed that.
Koga also capitalized on the inside line on the initial start, moving to third quickly. However, it wouldn’t be long before Kitzmiller found his rear bumper, and after multiple laps of hard racing, Koga got the chrome horn. Koga went around, bringing out the first caution of the night at lap 12.
The following restart saw a bit of classic short track action. Reaves and Reif were neck and neck for a few laps, with Reaves eventually clearing Reif. However, Reif used the bumper into turn 1 shortly after, moving Reaves up the hill for the lead. The two shared punches for a number of laps before Reaves eventually reclaimed the lead and began to pull away.
The caution fell quickly again though, as Koga got into the back of Jeffery MacZink, spinning him around.
The subsequent restart was a bit cleaner than the last, with Reaves and Reif remaining side by side for one circuit before Reaves cleared the No. 23 into turn 1. However, after about 20 laps of green flag action, aided by some lapped traffic, Reif reeled Reaves back in. Once clear of the traffic, though, Reaves began to pull away again.
The front trio of Reaves, Reif and Koga pulled away from the leaders, catching and driving away from one another for a number of laps as lapped traffic came and went. However, it was Reaves who was out front the entirety of the run.
Just beyond the halfway point in the race, Reaves again got caught behind lapped traffic, this time Tinkle and MacZink. This allowed Reif to close into the bumper of the No. 18, though, like previous attempts, Reaves pulled away again shortly after.
Another caution flew just a few laps later, as McLerran lost a tire that looked to have been going down for a number of laps. The spin set up for a restart with just over 60 laps to go.
The lap 90 restart looked similar to each of the previous iterations, as Reif couldn’t get around Reaves, attempted to use the bumper once they single filed out, but couldn’t complete the pass. The two remained nose-to-tail longer over the duration of this run, however.
Just about 10 laps later, as the race reached the century mark, points leader Kitzmiller was on pit road for an unscheduled stop. The No. 79 team had to change a tire, sending Kitzmiller back on his way numerous laps down.
As the race wound down to under 40 laps to go, Reif and Reaves were still within an arms reach of one another, the longest run they had remained that way all race long. Reaves was able to pull away without the influence of lapped traffic, but when they caught slower cars, Reif was there quickly. Each and every time, the usage of the bumper became more frequent and more intense. The battle would be reset shortly after, as the caution flew on lap 122, once again racking the leaders up for a restart.
Reif’s ideology on the following restart changed a bit, as he quickly fell in line behind Reaves rather than battling side by side. Despite this, the last 20 laps offered no opportunity for Reif to put the bumper to Reaves, allowing the driver of the No. 18 to take the checkered flag victorious for the third time this season.
ARCA East Results for Flat Rock
The next time the ARCA Menards Series takes to the track, it’ll be next Friday (May 24) at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with the green flag set to fly at 6 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. The East has a bit of a longer hiatus, returning on July 18 at Dover Motor Speedway. That race will be a combination race, set to air on FS1 at 5 p.m. ET that evening.
Josh joined Frontstretch in 2023 and currently covers the ARCA Menards Series. Born and raised in Missouri, Josh has been watching motorsports since 2005. He currently is studying for a Mass Communication degree at Lindenwood University