TALLADEGA, ALABAMA - APRIL 23: Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 23, 2023 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) | Getty Images
(Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images)

ARCA platform graduates score strong finishes at Talladega Superspeedway

www.arcaracing.com April 24, 2023

Graduates of the ARCA Menards Series platform were again sprinkled throughout the front of the field in both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series races last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Three-time ARCA Menards Series winner Kyle Busch scored his first Talladega win since 2008 and his second Cup Series win of 2023 in Sunday’s GEICO 500. Busch took the lead when contact between second-place Ryan Blaney and leader Bubba Wallace sent Wallace sideways, setting off a big crash and forcing the race to end under caution. It was Busch’s 62 career victory.

Blaney, who won an ARCA Menards Series West race at Phoenix Raceway in 2011, ended up second. Chris Buescher, the 2012 ARCA Menards Series champion and a 10-time ARCA race winner, was scored third, with 2016 ARCA Menards Series champion Chase Briscoe in fourth. Brad Keselowski, son of 1990 ARCA Menards Series champion Bob Keselowski and himself a winner in ARCA Late Model competition at Toledo Speedway, rounded out the top-five finishers.

Erik Jones, who won the ARCA Menards Series race at Berlin Raceway in 2015 at the age of 15, finished sixth. William Byron, the 2015 ARCA Menards Series East champion, was seventh, three-time ARCA Menards Series race winner Christopher Bell was eighth, three-time ARCA Menards Series East race winner Daniel Suarez was ninth, and two-time ARCA Menards Series West champion and the youngest ARCA Menards Series winner in series history, Todd Gilliland, rounded out the top-10.

Sheldon Creed, the 2018 ARCA Menards Series champion, finished second in Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race behind winner Jeb Burton. Burton made an ARCA Menards Series start at Berlin Raceway in 2011, while Creed is a four-time race winner and also has a win on the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series West.

Ten-time ARCA Menards Series winner Parker Kligerman was third, while Cole Custer – who has wins all across the ARCA Menards Series platform including one at Pocono Raceway when he was 17, finished fourth and claimed the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus. Six-time ARCA Menards Series winner Brennan Poole finished fifth, his first top-five finish in the Xfinity Series since the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2017, and two-time ARCA Menards Series race winner Josh Williams scored his first top-10 finish since 2021 in tenth.

The ARCA Menards Series East is in action this Friday, April 29 at Dover Motor Speedway. The General Tire 125 will go green at 5:15 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on FloRacing.

The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is the Dawn 150 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, May 6. The race will be televised live on FS1 starting at 2 p.m. ET.

The ARCA Menards Series West will return to action on Friday, June 2 at Portland International Raceway, the first of two road course races for 2023. The race will be streamed live on FloRacing starting at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.