After history-making effort one year ago, Jake Finch returns to Talladega looking for another win

When Jake Finch walked into Talladega Superspeedway on April 20, 2024, he had no idea he’d be making ARCA Menards Series history that day.

Finch, at the wheel of a Venturini Motorsports Toyota, started from the pole and led every lap of the ARCA Menards Series General Tire 200 that afternoon. It marked the first time in the modern era of ARCA competition that one driver had led every lap at Talladega. Records prior to 1979 for ARCA events at Talladega are incomplete, making it impossible to know conclusively that Finch is the only ARCA driver to accomplish the feat.

However, what is known is that no driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has ever led every lap during an event at the 2.66-mile oval.

It’s a unique statistic that, a year later, isn’t lost on Finch.

“Obviously it was a pretty good day,” said Finch, who returns to Talladega this Saturday with Venturini Motorsports hoping to defend his victory from a year ago. “Looking back on it and putting myself back in the car, I never really thought about leading every lap. Every lap was a new lap to me. I was trying to do the best I could to stay out front each and every lap, and luckily enough it happened to be all of them.

“It was probably one of the best days of my life.”

The race at Talladega one season ago was Finch’s second on a superspeedway. The first had come earlier that year at Daytona International Speedway, where he led a race-high 65 laps but was collected in a crash during an overtime and finished 11th.

Determined to make up for the disappointment he felt following his finish at Daytona, Finch walked into Talladega believing a win was within reach. He had no idea just how right he was.

“Coming off Daytona, that was my first (superspeedway) race, and I felt like I did a really, really good job for that being my first one,” Finch said. “At the end, obviously it didn’t go the way I wanted and that was really heart wrenching not only for me, but everybody on my team.

“It was really kind of hard to get over for a little while and it felt like I did the wrong thing when it mattered. When I got to Talladega, I was really focused on making the right decisions, being there at the end and hopefully just being in a good spot.”

In addition to being a special place in the racing history books, Talladega is also a special place to Finch and his family.

Jake’s father James Finch fielded cars in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and ARCA for more than 20 years. The only win for the team, known as Phoenix Racing, at the Cup Series level came at Talladega in 2009 with Brad Keselowski at the wheel.

That gave the win one season ago a bit of added significance for Jake Finch. The victory came with his father in attendance.

“I think what made that day so special is (Talladega) is four hours away from my house, so I had a lot of friends and family there,” Finch said looking back on his victory at Talladega one season ago. “I haven’t been able to share too many wins with my dad because he’s working and gone sometimes. He wasn’t there when I won Dover in 2023, so to be able to share that moment with him was pretty cool.

“It was just a really cool day, and to enjoy it with not only me, but with others was probably the best part.”

The odds of Finch repeating his historic feat from a year ago are unlikely. With no qualifying scheduled for Talladega and the field set by owner points, Finch is scheduled to start sixth Saturday afternoon. That means it’s unlikely he’ll lead every lap again.

However, he’s still driving for Venturini Motorsports, easily the best team on superspeedways in ARCA competition over the last decade.

Of the last 20 superspeedway races run at Daytona and Talladega, Venturini Motorsports has won 10 times with drivers Jesse Love, Corey Heim, Michael Self, Harrison Burton, Gus Dean, Drew Dollar and Finch. That’s a whopping 50 percent winning percentage.

Does that mean Finch is a lock to win Saturday at Talladega? No. But it certainly doesn’t hurt his odds.

“I feel like this year is a little bit harder,” Finch said. “(I’m) watching film and stuff like that, trying to figure out how to get my car toward the front starting in the position that I’m in. I don’t necessarily need to be there at a designated lap; I just want to be there on the last lap.

“I think the biggest thing is just trying to put myself in a good position, stay out of trouble and be around all day.”