MARNE, Mich. — SunTrust Rookie of the Year contender Scott Speed held off veterans Justin Allgaier and Frank Kimmel to win the ARCA RE/MAX 200 Saturday night at Berlin Raceway.
Speed, in the No. 2 Red Bull Toyota, took the lead from Kimmel on the 153rd lap of the 200-lap race and never relinquished it to earn his third-career victory and second-consecutive triumph.
“It was an epic battle,” said Speed, who was one of four different lap leaders. “This track is like nothing I’ve ever raced on. It’s actually a lot of fun and quite challenging to drive. Had a great time out there tonight. Really feel good for the guys on this team, who worked so hard to give me the perfect race car. They certainly met the challenge tonight.”
Allgaier, in the No. 16 AG Tech-Hoosier Midwest Chevrolet, also raced past Kimmel late in the race to finish second.
“We just didn’t have quite enough,” said Allgaier. “Scott (Speed) was on his game there and really good on restarts. Actually, he was good all the way around. The guys did awesome and we did everything we knew how and they just did it a little bit better. All in all, a good night and we had a good points night. Anytime you can be disappointed and finish second you’ve had a good night believe me.”
Allgaier established a one-lap track record in qualifying, surpassing a mark set by Fred Campbell in 2003.
Kimmel, after leading the most laps, finished third in the No. 44 Ford.
“It was nice to lead some laps and be competitive all night,” said Kimmel. “We needed longer runs at the end there to be competitive, but overall, I’m pretty happy with the Ford Fusion. In the middle of the race, we were even faster than some of the guys who had four new tires. We love coming to Berlin and maybe this started something for us and we’ll get it going for the rest of the season from here.”
Justin Lofton, who led 22 laps, finished fourth, with Matt Carter fifth.
The finish:
Showing driver, car and laps completed: 1. Scott Speed, Toyota, 200; 2. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200; 3. Frank Kimmel, Ford, 200; 4. Justin Lofton, Dodge, 200; 5. Matt Carter, Ford, 200; 6. Billy Leslie, Ford, 200; 7. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 200; 8. John Wes Townley, Ford, 200; 9. Tom Hessert, Ford, 200; 10. Todd Bowsher, Ford, 200; 11. Dominick Casola, Dodge, 200; 12. Tayler Malsam, Dodge, 200; 13. Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 200; 14. Todd Hoddick, Dodge, 200; 15. Michael Phelps, Dodge, 200; 16. Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 199; 17. Daniel Bop, Chevrolet, 199; 18. Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 197; 19. Donny Kelley, Chevrolet, 195; 20. Larry Hollenbeck, Chevrolet, 192; 21. Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 191; 22. Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 189; 23. Brad Smith, Ford, 122; 24. Tim Mitchell, Ford, 115; 25. Ken Butler III, Toyota, 107; 26. Patrick Sheltra, Chevrolet, 50; 27. Corey La Costa, Chevrolet, 9; 28. James Hylton, Dodge, 8; 29. Gabi DiCarlo, Chevrolet, 3; 30. Wayne Peterson, Chevrolet, 0; 31. Greg Seevers, Chevrolet, 0.