SPARTA, Ky. — SunTrust Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., in the No. 99 RoushFenway.com Ford, got the best of Scott Speed over the course of three late-race restarts to earn his first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory in only his sixth series start Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.
The Olive Branch, Miss., driver not only left with the top trophy, he also left with the point lead by a slim five-point margin over nine-time champion Frank Kimmel.
“I don’t know if it has really sunk in yet,” said Stenhouse. “I think the win probably won’t sink in until a little later on. We’ve come out here and have had good runs and to finally have a win is great. We’re coming towards the end of a long stretch of races and so hopefully after winning here we can do well at Toledo and go off on a high point before taking a few weekends off.”
Speed, who led 55 of 112 laps in the Red Bull Toyota, had a 10-length advantage over the field with less than 10 laps remaining before a series of late-race wrecks slowed the pace.
Speed survived the first green-white-checkered restart, but not the second during which Stenhouse got a run and blew by on the outside. Speed would get one more chance to get the lead back on the final restart, but Stenhouse held firm and cruised under the checkered flag .374 second in front of Speed.
Canadian driver Ryan Fischer battled back from an early-race spin to finish a career-best third in the Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet.
Speed’s teammate Ken Butler III, who started 20th, finished fourth in a Toyota and John Wes Townley was fifth in a Ford.
Sean Caisse won the pole in his first series start.
The race was extended 12 laps to accommodate the ARCA-mandated rule that no race can finish under caution. Ten cautions slowed the race for 55 laps for a variety of incidents.
The finish:
Showing driver, car and laps completed: 1. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 112; 2. Scott Speed, Toyota, 112; 3. Ryan Fischer, Chevrolet, 112; 4. Ken Butler III, Toyota, 112; 5. John Wes Townley, Ford, 112; 6. Brett Hudson, Dodge, 112; 7. Patrick Sheltra, Dodge, 112; 8. Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 112; 9. Michael Annett, Toyota, 112; 10. Dominick Casola, Dodge, 112; 11. Tayler Malsam, Dodge, 112; 12. Todd Hansen, Chevrolet, 112; 13. Frank Kimmel, Ford, 112; 14. Tom Hessert, Ford, 112; 15. Billy Leslie, Ford, 111; 16. Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 111; 17. Frank Kapfhammer, Chevrolet, 111; 18. Donny Kelley, Chevrolet, 111; 19. Jake Francis, Dodge, 111; 20. Tom Berte, Chevrolet, 111; 21. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 110; 22. Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 110; 23. Justin Lofton, Dodge, 109; 24. Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 108; 25. Gabi DiCarlo, Toyota, 107; 26. Tim Mitchell, Ford, 107; 27. Brad Smith, Ford, 107; 28. Sean Caisse, Toyota, 106; 29. Matt Carter, Ford, 98; 30. Jesse Smith, Dodge, 98; 31. Robb Brent, Chevrolet, 98; 32. Todd Bowsher, Ford, 86; 33. Ron Cox, Chevrolet, 80; 34. Mike Koch, Chevrolet, 71; 35. Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 58; 36. Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 36; 37. Jason Basham, Chevrolet, 21; 38. Michael Phelps, Dodge, 11; 39. Grant Enfinger, Ford, 8; 40. Wayne Peterson, Chevrolet, 0; 41. Greg Seevers, Chevrolet, 0.