Chase Briscoe won his sixth race of the 2016 ARCA Racing Series season Friday night in the season-ending Kansas 150 at Kansas Speedway.
Briscoe, the 2016 series champion, clinched the title by starting the race. Starting on the pole after qualifying was canceled due to mist, he dominated the first portion of the event, leading every lap until the caution came out on lap 42 for Brandon Jones, relinquishing the lead to Dalton Sargeant. Sargeant, who had fallen back early in the race on lap 6 after his engine failed, was able to make up positions and take the lead on the caution when he elected to take fuel while the rest of the field changed tires on pit stops.
Shortly after the green flag returned on lap 50, Briscoe began to fall, colliding with Cunningham Motorsports teammate Austin Cindric. The two went four-wide and Cindric made contact with the third Cunningham driver Myatt Snider. Snider spun as a result and was hit by Kyle Weatherman, who in turn was hit by Bret Holmes. Morgen Baird, Nick Higdon and Mike Basham were also collected in the crash. The red flag was flown shortly after the accident. Weatherman was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and was ruled conscious and alert. Despite taking damage, Briscoe remained in the top 10.
After the red flag was lifted and the green flag wove on lap 55, Gus Dean hit the turn 1 wall two laps later. Green flag racing resumed on lap 63; in half a lap, Briscoe moved from 5th to 2nd. Sargeant continued to lead until his car’s power shut off again on lap 75. Briscoe reclaimed the lead and stayed in first for the remainder of the race to record his sixth win of the year. Cindric finished 2nd, followed by Michael Self, Jones and Noah Gragson. Matt Kurzejewski, John Wes Townley, Shane Lee, Tom Hessert and Mason Mitchell closed out the top ten. Sargeant, who was named Rookie of the Year after the race, finished 12th.
Briscoe ended 2016 with a dominant performance over the season. In addition to his six wins, he finished in the top five 14 times, in the top ten in all but two races (Salem and Kentucky), recorded six poles and failed to finish only one race (Kentucky). He also claimed the Bill France Four Crown Award after winning at Chicagoland, his fifth race victory of the year. At the end of the season, he held a 525-point margin over runner-up Hessert; Kurzejewski (4,585), Josh Williams (4,175) and Thomas Praytor (4,055) rounded out the top five in points. 2016 also marked Cunningham Motorsports’ first series championship.
“I feel like an overnight sensation,” team owner Kerry Scherer stated. “It only took us 21 years to win a championship.”
Unofficial results
- Chase Briscoe
- Austin Cindric
- Michael Self
- Brandon Jones
- Noah Gragson
- Matt Kurzejewski
- John Wes Townley
- Shane Lee
- Tom Hessert
- Mason Mitchell
- Ty Majeski
- Dalton Sargeant
- Josh Williams
- A. J. Fike
- Thomas Praytor
- Chris Bailey Jr.
- Ed Pompa
- Mike Basham
- Eric Caudell
- Kevin Hinckle
- Brad Smith
- Morgan Baird
- Mike Senica
- Con Nicolopoulos
- Gus Dean
- Bret Holmes
- Myatt Snider
- Kyle Weatherman
- Nick Higdon
- Dale Shearer
- Tom Berte
- Codie Rohrbaugh
- Mark Meunier
- Wayne Peterson
Featured image courtesy of Fox Sports 1
