Briscoe wins again, extends points lead in ARCA Series

A cut tire on lap 87 changed the entire complexion of the ARCA Series ABC Supply 150 on Saturday at Iowa Speedway.

Kyle Weatherman grabbed the race lead from pole sitter Kyle Benjamin on Lap 42, led 46 laps and looked well on his way to Victory Lane. But a cut tire forced Weatherman to make a pit stop, and points leader Chase Briscoe took advantage.

Briscoe won his second consecutive ARCA Series race after grabbing the lead on Lap 88 and improved his points lead over Josh Williams.

“We had a fourth- or fifth-place car early in the race,” Briscoe said. “Then I saw the guys running the top so I tried it, and that’s when my car came to life. There was so much grip up there. Anytime I came off the top, I got really loose.

“The pit crew did their job, and I finally figured out mine. It was awesome to get Cunningham and Big Tine two wins in a row and stretch our point lead.”

Benjamin, who won the pole and was the second fastest car in practice, finished second and Harrison Burton came across third in his ARCA Series debut.

“We just got too loose,” Benjamin said. “I didn’t know the track was going to swing that loose. The No. 77 was impressive tonight ... he’s got it going on. The top came in tonight, but it’s hard to pass. You had to slide-job to pass, and I have to work on that.”

Burton, who is the 15-year-old son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Jeff Burton, was the third fastest car in practice.

“I learned a lot tonight, which is what we set out to do,” Burton said. “I’ve never been on a track this fast before. I learned that you really have to keep your momentum up around here.”

The rest of the top five included Dalton Sergeant in fourth and Myatt Snider in fifth. Matt Kurzejewski finished sixth, Cole Custer was seventh and West Des Moines native Mason Mitchell started seventh and finished eighth.

Mitchell, who won the race last year, moved all the way into the top four before struggling with a battery in pit road.

The outcome could have been much different, however, had Weatherman not scraped the wall to bring out the first of only two cautions on lap 87 of the 150-lap race.

Weatherman was leading when he cut down a right-front tire and made contact with the turn two wall.

“It’s disappointing,” Weatherman said. “I felt like we had the car to beat tonight. Nothing I could do when the right-front went down. My guys on pit road did an excellent job getting us back out so we didn’t lose a lap, but the car wouldn’t handle after that.”

Weatherman, who began the day third in the point standings, nursed his wounded car home in ninth, one lap down.

Kurzejewski flirted with the lead late in the race but sustained rear-end damage on the final restart when the cars around him stacked up. Kurzejewski held on to finish sixth.

Williams, who entered the weekend second in the point standings, finished 10th. Tom Hessert, fourth in the point standings, ended up 16th, while Thomas Prator was 15th after coming into the day sixth in the standings.

There still have been no repeat winners in the ARCA Series at Iowa Speedway.