The 2023 ARCA Menards Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway was the only series that race weekend to end with a green-flag finish. When the checkered flag waved, Greg Van Alst emerged victoriously from his self-owned No. 35.
The 41-year-old captured his first ARCA victory.
For the Anderson, Indiana-native, it has been a surreal experience. While thrust into the spotlight, Van Alst finally began to thoroughly enjoy his win on Tuesday (Feb. 21). The reason? He’s the hauler driver, so he drove it home on Sunday and Monday.
“I kind of felt like I was disconnected from the world when I was the center of it. Hadn’t been able to look through it and enjoy everything,” Van Alst told Frontstretch.
Van Alst led six of the race’s 80 laps, and made his race-winning pass on the final lap.
“Coming to the restart, I was thinking, ‘This is exactly where I want to be because I was on the inside line,’” Van Alst said. “My spotter and I had a conversation. He was telling me, ‘Hey, this race is only won on the inside line, this is where you want to be. I think we’re in a good spot; we’re just going to have to time the runs.’ It was a pep talk. He is very calm.
“We took the green and my goal was to push and push and push the No. 44 [Jason White] to get him out front to where all I had to do was get around one car. And we stayed side-by-side until we came off turn 4 for the white flag and I was like, ‘I got to get to his rear bumper.’ I was able to engage and lock on which helped. And I unlocked from him going across the tri-oval and I let him get out there. And the goal was to get back to his rear bumper coming off our turn 2. And got the run on him going into turn 2 and got to him, shoved him out again and started trail-braking.
“I felt the move was coming when I felt Connor [Mosack] when he engaged, but I thought it was kind of early but I had to go because I had too much momentum,” Van Alst continued. “I pulled down and side-drafted the No. 44 and I think that sucked him back pretty hard. And as I’m doing that, I’m also watching my mirror and the No. 18 makes a little bit of a move. I go with him and I felt the air engage with him. At that point, I knew it was over because, with the ARCA racecars and the air, you have to plan your move about a mile in advance.”
Although Van Alst knew he won the race, he stayed on the gas for the beginning of the cooldown lap.
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