Isabella Robusto Comes Close, Falls Just Short at Talladega

It would be incorrect phrasing to say that ARCA Menards Series driver Isabella Robusto fell just short at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, April 25.

Robusto held the lead on the white flag and, after getting out to a gap that was too large down the backstretch, could not block a run from the rest of the field. Crossing the finish line fourth, she wound up unable to break through for her first career ARCA win.

Robusto and her No. 55 team started quietly, starting 21st and hanging around the back half of the top 15 for much of the first part of the race. The start saw much of the midpack losing touch with the lead pack quickly, burying Robusto early. 

However, as the race went on, Robusto started to appear within the top 10 more, especially with the influx of restarts in the second half of the race. 

Eventually, as the laps wound down, the 21-year-old capitalized on a huge push from Will Kimmel to take the lead with under 10 laps to go, narrowly avoiding the biggest wreck of the race by doing so.

Robusto took the lead and subsequently held onto it, including during a lengthy cleanup period for an 11-car wreck out of turn 4. That wreck set the remainder of the field up for a one-lap shootout, putting Robusto just over two and a half miles away from becoming the first female to win an ARCA national division race. 

After taking the green and white flags together, Robusto found herself alone out in front of the field. Gio Ruggiero, who started on her outside, had significant front-end damage and was taken three-wide by Garrett “Cleetus McFarland” Mitchell as the field entered turn 1. However, the driver of the No. 55 also did not have immediate help behind her either. 

Robusto found herself out in front, alone as the field worked down the backstretch at Talladega for the final time, with the tandem of fellow Nitro Motorsports driver Gus Dean and Kimmel coming quickly behind. As has happened many times, and to many drivers, her lead was too big to block the impending run at this drafting track, with Kimmel and Dean passing her as the field entered turn 3.

“I wanted to be the lead car if the caution came out, and got too far out into the lead off of turn 2, and yeah, just didn’t get the bump that I needed,” an emotional Robusto told Frontstretch post-race. “I lost the momentum, and was hoping they’d get together more than they did coming to the flag than they did, and get some momentum back. Yeah, just super proud of our team the whole day. We had a fast Mobil 1 Toyota Camry. Kept the nose clean, got into position, and I feel like we had a really good shot there at the end, just wasn’t able to execute that last lap.”

While she was no longer the leader entering turn 3, Robusto’s chances at victory were not gone, just diminished. Chaos off of turn 4 is commonplace at Talladega, and that is exactly what ensued.

McFarland took the lead off turn 4 and made contact with Dean as the field entered the tri-oval. Eventual winner Andy Jankowiak capitalized, taking the pair three-wide for the win. As he did it, it was Robusto who was sitting in fourth, very much with a chance to pounce had she had some drafting help behind her.

“There at the end, I wish I had gotten a little help from [McFarland],” Robusto added. “But, we’re all racing for the win.” 

As the field crossed the line, Jankowiak was victorious for the first time in his ARCA career, and Robusto held on to that fourth-place position. The result was one spot worse than she had earned at this race last season.

Despite not breaking through to victory, not all is lost for Robusto. The top five marks her best finish of the season after three runs outside the top 20 in the first three races. She entered Talladega outside of the top 10 in the ARCA point standings, but with 16 races to go, her championship hopes are not over. A strong run at Talladega today is certainly a step in the right direction of getting there.

“I wanted it really bad,” she said. “I thought we had it there. But so close.”