DOVER, Del. — There was no slowing Ty Gibbs this time at Dover Int’l Speedway.
A year after watching a sure win get away from him following late-race contact with the wall, the 18-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., put together a perfect day Friday in the ARCA Menards Series East’s return to the Monster Mile.
Gibbs was fastest in practice, won the General Tire Pole Award, and led every lap en route to the win in the General Tire 125.
Friday marked the second straight ARCA race that Gibbs has led every lap. He also pitched a shut out in the national ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas Speedway on May 1. It’s Gibbs’ 13th win across the three ARCA platforms.
The only real threat to Gibbs’ dominance at Dover came with 17 laps to go following the race’s final restart, when Josh Berry gave Gibbs an extended battle for the lead. The two made contact in turn one, pushing Gibbs up the track, but he was able to maintain the top spot down the backstretch and pull away for the win from there.
Berry finished second in the start to a very busy weekend. In addition to the NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday, the reigning NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion got tabbed to fill in for Justin Haley Sunday at Spire Motorsports and make his NASCAR Cup Series debut.
Former NASCAR Cup Series driver David Gilliland finished third, while East point leader Sammy Smith rallied from an early cut right-front tire to finish fourth. Max Gutierrez, who won the season opener at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in February, rounded out the top five.
Daniel Dye was sixth, followed by Connor Mosack, who ran seventh in his East series debut. Joey Iest, Jade Buford and Ed Pompa closed the top 10.
Smith extended his championship lead after the fourth of eight races as misfortune fell challengers Mason Diaz (11th), Parker Retzlaff (12th) and Rajah Caruth (14th).
The ARCA Menards Series East will next race on Saturday, June 12, in the North Carolina 200 at Southern National Motorsports Park.
The General Tire 125 was streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Gold, and will re-air on NBCSN on Friday, May 21 at 12:30 a.m.
The finish:
1. Ty Gibbs, 2. Josh Berry, 3. David Gilliland, 4. Sammy Smith, 5. Max Gutierrez, 6. Daniel Dye, 7. Connor Mosack, 8. Joey Iest, 9. Jade Buford, 10. Ed Pompa, 11. Mason Diaz, 12. Parker Retzlaff, 13. Kyle Sieg, 14. Rajah Caruth, 15. Dick Doheny, 16. Drew Dollar, 17. Justin S. Carroll, 18. Jesse Love.