On Sunday, the ARCA Menards Series returned to the fan favorite Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin for the running of the Sprecher 150. For the first race on the track since 2007, Ty Gibbs sat in the first starting position in his number 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, with teammate Sammy Smith starting in second in the number 81 JGR Toyota. Behind the Toyota duo was Daniel Dye in the number 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet, and the number 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota of Corey Heim. Heim and Gibbs have been in a long, fierce championship battle for much of the season, and were only separated by a single point when Ty won the pole earlier in the day.
On the initial start, Gibbs pulled away from his teammate, Smith. Smith, though, would be challenged by Heim for second place, though the two quickly spread apart. By lap 10, most of the top runners were also spread out.
By lap 25, Daniel Dye would begin making his way up to the top three. He passed Corey Heim in the 20, then drove within a car length of the number 81 of Smith. Smith’s car drifted up the track ever so slightly in turn number four, giving Dye a chance to steal second place. As Smith would try to regain his momentum from the outside lane on the front straightaway, he and Dye were nearly equal in terms of speed. Entering turn one, Smith was passed by Dye, who had the advantage with the inside lane. Dye was quick, but not quick enough to challenge Ty Gibbs, who had extended his lead to over a second by this point.
With two laps until the first race break, Daniel Dye would fall back to third place, with fourth place driver Sammy Smith right behind. While trying not to lose any more position, the two were passed on the inside lane of turn four by the number 17 David Gilliland Racing Ford Fusion of Taylor Gray. By lap 50, Daniel Dye would lose fourth place to Smith. The caution flag was then displayed, signaling the race break.
Coming to the green flag to restart the race, Ty Gibbs would once again pull away to a strong lead. Behind him, Sammy Smith and Corey Heim were battling for second place. After swapping positions for a moment, Smith eventually came out on top, running in second behind his teammate Gibbs and in front of the 20 of Heim.
Farther back, Joey Iest in the number 54 David Gilliland Racing Ford was pressured for seventh position by the number 23 Chevrolet driven by Sam Mayer. Entering turn three, Mayer would aggressively send his car in an attempt to pass the 54, and exiting turn four, Mayer would make contact with Iest and steal seventh place. For the next few laps, the two would be very equal, running side-by-side for the better part of three laps. Though exiting turn two, Mayer’s car got loose, giving the position to Iest.
At lap 100, the caution came out, signaling the second and final race break.
Going green once again, Ty Gibbs would pulled away from the pack, having led every lap of the race so far. The 17 of Gray moved up to second, and the 21 of Dye was right behind challenging for position.
After reaching lap traffic, the 20 of Corey Heim made contact with the number 12 Toyota of Stephanie Moyer, spinning Moyer and bringing out the first caution caused by an incident of the day.
Going green with 27 laps to go, Gibbs once again pulled away from the competitors. Behind him, Sam Mayer passed the second place driver Taylor Gray. Gray would then lose third place to Daniel Dye in the 21. For the remainder of the race, not much would happen. On lap 150, after leading every single last of those 150, Ty Gibbs and the number 18 JGR Toyota won the Sprecher 150.
First was Gibbs in the 18, second was Sam Mayer in the 23, third would go to Daniel Dye in the 21, fourth place would be Taylor Gray in the 17, and Sammy Smith in the 81 rounded out the Top 5.
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