For the first time this season, and the second time in his career, Thomas Annunziata is an ARCA Menards Series winner.
Annunziata dominated the event at Lime Rock Park on Friday, July 10, taking home the checkered flag for the second time at the 1.5-mile road course in Connecticut.
“I grew up doing this kind of stuff right; a lot of guys didn’t,” Annunziata told FOX Sports after he parked his winning No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota at the start/finish line. “I feel like we had an advantage when it came to the road courses, I feel like we’ve deserved one for a while.”
Road ringer Andrew Ranger crossed the line in second, marking his best series finish since he won at New Jersey Motorsports Park back in 2014. Carson Brown finished third, rallying after a lap 1 spin.
“Got shoved off there twice as hard and just ended up spinning out with a few others. I ended up falling back to dead last, but we worked our way back up to third and salvaged what we could under green flag conditions,” Brown said post-race. “This place is definitely not easy to pass at, but I’m just trying to hold my head as high as possible.”
Jake Bollman finished fourth, running significantly better than his first road course race in the series at Watkins Glen International. Annunziata cut into his points lead, but Bollman leaves Lime Rock up eight points still.
“This is my second ARCA road course ever. We finished 10th at Watkins Glen, and I wasn’t happy about that. You shouldn’t be running there in this equipment, and I had to do something about it,” Bollman said. “I really worked on this track, and did everything I possibly could before we got here. There’s more for sure, but it’s just going to come with time.”
Max Reaves finished fifth, rounding out the top five finishers.
“Definitely could have done better, I’ve got a lot to work on,” Reaves stated. “We were really good at long runs, I wish we could’ve had more long runs. I just wasn’t that good, I’ve got a lot to work to do, but that’s why I’m here. To learn.”
Ryan Gemmell, Tristan McKee, Isaac Kitzmiller, Dawson Sutton, and Jeff Anton rounded out the top 10 finishers in sixth through 10th, respectively.
Turn 1 proved to be a spot to watch in last year’s race, and the initial start of this year’s race was much of the same. McKee made a three-wide move on Annunziata and Brown on the first time of the race, taking the lead early. Annunziata slotted in behind him, with the field quickly going single file up front.
The lead trio broke away, with Annunziata getting around McKee on lap 10 for the lead. McKee was not able to take another run at him under green, however, as the first caution of the day flew on lap 13. Corey Aiken’s No. 19 Ford lost a rear gear, with the pinion landing on the racing surface, forcing a debris caution.
After a lengthy cleanup period for Aiken’s car, the green flag flew once again on lap 20. The turn 1 chaos continued on this restart, as both Brown and McKee found their way off track. Brown got the worst of it, falling outside the top 15. The lead went to Bollman, who got past Annunziata amid the chaos around them.
Bollman’s lead was brief, and while he led a few laps, Annunziata got back around him on lap 24. Outside of some lapped traffic, the run from that lead change to the race break on lap 34 was largely uneventful, with Annunziata holding the top spot the entire time.
The restart after the race break was the calmest of the day, with Annunziata holding off Gemmell and the rest of the pack to keep the lead. Annunziata quickly pulled out to a large lead, with Ranger getting around Bollman and Gemmell for the runner-up position.
The second caution for cause of the day came out on lap 47, as debris on the track forced the series to rack the field back up once again.
Annunziata kept the lead on the final restart, with Ranger sticking with him upfront. Alex Quarterley, Peter Portante and McKee each had off-track excursions after some contact with one another into turn 1 behind the leaders.
The driver of the No. 70 never truly had much competition on the long runs, and after quickly gapping Ranger on that final restart, he never looked back. The 21-year-old dominated the final green-flag run and the race as a whole, taking home the checkered flag.
After the checkered flag Takuma Koga, who finished 19th and runs fifth in the season standings, spun and made significant contact with the tire barrier. However, Annunziata had already taken the checkered, and no implications for the race as a whole came of the spin.
ARCA Race Results from Lime Rock
The series will have an off week before returning on July 24 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. That race is slated to begin at 5 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.
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
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