NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Scott Speed, in Eddie Sharp’s Red Bull Toyota, capitalized on an on-track argument between Sean Caisse and Justin Allgaier and drove away from Jeremy Clements during a last-lap shootout to win Saturday afternoon’s ARCA RE/MAX Series event at Nashville Superspeedway.
“Honestly, the 01 (Caisse) and the 16 (Allgaier) were battling so hard that I was willing to settle for third,” said Speed. “But when the opportunity presented itself, I took it. I just played out the race and waited to lead until the end. Those are the only laps you need to lead anyways.”
Caisse and Allgaier battled much of the way, bumping and grinding on one another under green and caution periods, while Speed watched and waited in third. Inside of 10 laps to go, Allgaier finally raced under Caisse to lead the 97th lap of the scheduled 113-lap race and began pulling away.
But the caution flag waved when Bryan Silas made contact with the wall, setting up the restart during which Caisse made contact with Allgaier, sending Allgaier spinning.
Caisse held off Speed for two laps before the eventual winner passed Caisse three laps from the finish. Caisse continued to fall back while Speed pulled away. The  yellow flag waved just after Speed took the white flag, which lengthened the race four additional laps to accommodate the ARCA-mandated green-flag finish.
Speed pulled away to win by five car- lengths in the one-lap dash to the finish. It was Speed’s fourth victory of the season.
“I am in this for the experience,” continued Speed. “The points would be nice, but at the end of the day I honestly don’t think that winning the ARCA championship will make or break my career. No one but the Old Man (Frank Kimmel, nine-time ARCA RE/MAX Series Champion) has won in years.”
Clements, who started 14th, finished second.
“We lost this race in the pits,” said Clements. “I honestly don’t know what was happening. Why we put scuff tires on is beyond me. It’s disappointing. I don’t know what my future is for the rest of the year in ARCA. We are a family-owned team and just trying to find enough money to race.”
Brian Scott, who ran both the ARCA RE/MAX Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events at Nashville this weekend, finished third.
Matt Hawkins finished fourth and Justin Loftin was fifth. Polesitter Ken Butler III was sixth. Caisse, who led 94 laps, finished 16th.
The finish:
Showing driver, car and laps completed: 1. Scott Speed, Toyota, 117; 2. Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 117; 3. Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 117; 4. Matt Hawkins, Dodge, 117; 5. Justin Lofton, Dodge, 117; 6. Ken Butler III, Toyota, 117; 7. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 117; 8. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 117; 9. Matt Carter, Ford, 117; 10. Patrick Sheltra, Dodge, 117; 11. Tom Hessert III, Ford, 117; 12. Brandon Knupp, Ford, 117; 13. Tayler Malsam, Dodge, 117; 14. Billy Leslie, Ford, 117; 15. Billy Wease, Dodge, 117; 16. Sean Caisse, Toyota, 117; 17. James Buescher, Dodge, 117; 18. Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 117; 19. Frank Kimmel, Ford, 116; 20. Michael Phelps, Dodge, 116; 21. Chad Blount, Dodge, 115; 22. Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 114; 23. Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 112; 24. Tim Mitchell, Ford, 111; 25. Frank Kapfhammer, Chevrolet, 111; 26. Brad Smith, Ford, 110; 27. Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 109; 28. Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 106; 29. Ali Owens, Chevrolet, 75; 30. Donny Kelley, Chevrolet, 73; 31. Tim George, Jr., Chevrolet, 69; 32. Chris Cockrum, Chevrolet, 67; 33. John Wes Townley, Ford, 51; 34. Clay Rogers, Ford, 33; 35. James Hylton, Dodge, 19; 36. Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 17; 37. Ben Stancill, Dodge, 13; 38. Jason Basham, Chevrolet, 11; 39. Greg Seevers, Chevrolet, 2; 40. Gabi DiCarlo, Toyota, 2; 41. Wayne Peterson, Chevrolet, 1.