KANSAS CITY, Kan. — ARCA RE/MAX Series rookie Scott Speed, with an assist from the Aaron’s Lucky Dog, won the Kansas Lottery $150 Grand Friday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.
Speed, in the No. 2 Red Bull Toyota, battled back from a lap down, blew by rookie Jesse Smith on a late-race restart with six laps remaining and kept Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. at bay to claim his first victory in his fifth-career series start.
Speed, who led 21 laps, went a lap down early on while he was leading when he had to come down pit road under green to refasten his window net, which had fallen down.
“I don’t let things that I can’t control affect me while I’m driving,” said Speed. “Obviously, something like a window net I can’t control. I just got really aggressive after that happened so that we could be in a position to earn the lucky dog. Once we got that, I pushed real hard to make up a lot of positions.”
Speed was in position to get the lucky dog award during a lap-54 caution period, which put the Formula One veteran back in the mix.
“It’s certainly great to win a race. It’s been awhile,” Speed said. “The goal is to be successful in Cup, so if we are learning a lot here, that’s great. Every lap I make on a race track is beneficial. This is why I am pushing so hard, because it’s beneficial.”
Stenhouse in the No. 99 RoushFenway.com Ford, finished second, 10 lengths away, a career-best for the Olive Branch, Miss., driver. Stenhouse, who started 17th, also earned the Casite Hard-Charger-of-the-Race honors.
“The pit crew did an awesome job today, they gained several spots on that first caution,” said Stenhouse. “I have to apologize to the No. 93. I got a better run than I thought I did off four and accidentally got into him there late in the race. I was disappointed that the last caution came out. It took me a few laps to get going and there at the end I think we could have caught the leader. I just ran out of laps.”
Rookie Jesse Smith, in only his third series start, finished a career-best third in the No. 30 Lloyd’s Barbeque-Spam-Hormel Dodge after leading 24 laps. Michael Annett was fourth, with Robb Brent a career-best fifth after leading 19 laps.
In all, six drivers exchanged the lead 11 times while four cautions, all for minor incidents, slowed the race on four occasions for 19 laps.
Speed’s teammate Ken Butler III, in the No. 22 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine Toyota, finished seventh after earning the SIM Factory Pole Award.
Justin Allgaier entered Kansas as the point leader, but finished 30th. Rookie Matt Carter, who finished 11th in Larry Clement’s Ford, now leads the standings.
The finish:
Showing driver, car and laps completed: 1. Scott Speed, Toyota, 100; 2. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 100; 3. Jesse Smith, Dodge, 100; 4. Michael Annett, Toyota, 100; 5. Robb Brent, Chevrolet, 100; 6. Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 100; 7. Ken Butler III, Toyota, 100; 8. Patrick Sheltra, Dodge, 100; 9. Gabi DiCarlo, Toyota, 100; 10. Ryan Fischer, Chevrolet, 100; 11. Matt Carter, Ford, 100; 12. Justin Lofton, Dodge, 100; 13. Tom Hessert III, Ford, 100; 14. Tayler Malsam, Dodge, 100; 15. John Wes Townley, Ford, 100; 16. Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 99; 17. Michael Phelps,Dodge, 99; 18. Alli Owens, Chevrolet, 99; 19. Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 98; 20. Frank Kimmel, Ford, 98; 21. Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 98; 22. Dominick Casola, Dodge, 98; 23. Tom Berte, Chevrolet, 98; 24. Pierre Bourque, Dodge, 97; 25. Ron Cox, Chevrolet, 96; 26. Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 95; 27. Max Dumarey, Ford, 94; 28. Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 94; 29. Tim Mitchell, Ford, 87; 30. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 83; 31. Mike Koch, Chevrolet, 81; 32. Frank Kapfhammer, Chevrolet, 77; 33. Jake Francis, Dodge, 77; 34. Donny Kelley, Chevrolet, 67; 35. Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 50; 36. Grant Enfinger, Ford, 36; 37. James Hylton, Ford, 4; 38. Brad Smith, Ford, 1; 39. A.J. Genali, Dodge, 1.