Seventeen-year-old Zilisch wins Atlas 150 at Iowa

A re-pavement to Iowa Speedway’s 7/8-mile oval did not lend to much change in the top three positions during the ARCA Menards Series Atlas 150 on Friday night.

Connor Zilisch, William Sawalich and Giovanni Ruggiero all had top-four performances in both practice and qualifying leading up the race.

All three 17 year olds were in the top three after 25 and 50 laps and each up-and-comer ended up in the top three when 132 miles were completed as Zilisch survived a handful of late restarts to win in front a strong crowd at Iowa Speedway.

“I can’t say enough about my entire Pinnacle Racing Group team. It’s a true team effort to get these wins, and it means a lot to come out and win these races,” Zilisch said. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without them so hopefully we can keep this momentum the rest of the year.”

Zilisch drove his No. 28 Chevrolet to his second win in three ARCA Menards Series starts and his third in five appearances with the East Series.

But it didn’t come without drama. Zilisch and Sawalich forced a caution with under 10 laps to go when the two drivers made contact with each other.

It was just one of a handful of late cautions though as Zilisch was up to the challenge on each restart.

“There was definitely a lot of effort,” said Sawalich, who was the 2023 ARCA East champion. “I can’t thank them enough for trying everything to get us up there. We had the speed, but just not enough there at the end. Something early on happened with the right front. I’m not too sure what it was. I tried everything I could.”

The top three finishers all were ARCA Series East drivers. Ruggiero, the pole sitter, settled for third despite forcing a caution on lap 84 when he lost control of his car on turn 4.

Iowa native Mason Mitchell started sixth and finished fourth despite being 11th during the practice laps.

Andy Jankowiak started ninth but worked his way into a top-five finish in fifth. The rest of the top 10 included ARCA Menards Series points leader Andres Perez, Gus Dean, Toni Breidinger, Lavar Scott and Chris Tate.

There were no Fords in the top 10. Zilisch, Mitchell, Perez and Scott all drove Chevrolets, while Sawalich, Ruggiero, Jankowiak, Dean, Breidinger and Tate were in Toyotas.

Zilisch admitted to being surprised by the way Sawalich raced him during the closing stages of the race.

“I honestly don’t know what I could have done different,” Zilisch said. “We were getting into [turn] one there and I felt like he just drove up the track and tried wrecking me. He about tried right hooking me down the back straightaway. I’ll have to talk and ask him what he wants me to do differently.

“I don’t feel like I’ve ever raced him that dirty.”

Mitchell, who has one career ARCA win at Iowa, was in the top five after 25 laps. Dean was in the top four after 25 and 50 laps and was fifth with 35 to go.

Kris Wright qualified fifth and was sitting fourth at lap 100 and with 35 laps to go. But he moved out of contention with 28 left when he and Cody Dennison made contact with each other between turn 1 and 2.

Wright wound up 16th after completing only 121 laps. Just 12 cars finished all 150 laps in the race.

Christian Rose and D.L. Wilson were 11th and 12th, respectively. Rose was the only Ford to complete all 150 laps.

Notes: Zilisch became the first repeat winner in the ARCA Series this season after the first six events saw six different winners. … Former IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti qualified 14th but finished 22nd after completing only 24 laps. … The only driver who finished in the top 10 but didn’t start there was Tate, who began the race in the 19th position. … Greg Van Alst and Amber Balcaen started 11th and 12th, respectively, but both completed just 23 laps after hitting the wall and forcing a caution early in the race. … The ARCA Menards Series has mandatory pit stops at laps 50 and 100. Zilisch and Sawalich were 1-2 at both stops.