On a sunny Sunday (Aug. 18) in Springfield, Ill., history was made in the ARCA Menards Series. As William Sawalich led every lap en route to the victory at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Isabella Robusto and Taylor Reimer finished second and third. Their results made them the first two women to finish in the top five in series history.
“Hey guys, end of the race, P2,” Robusto told ARCA Racing post-race. “Wish we could’ve gotten up front one more spot. But overall good day. Learned a lot so looking forward to the next one at Kansas.”
“Just ended up on the podium,” Reimer added. “Super happy with our finish here. Felt like we had a second-place car for sure. It all ended up working out, had a lot of fun and looking forward to chasing the win at DuQuoin [State Fairgrounds].”
Robusto’s finish stood out further because she wasn’t even supposed to compete in the race. Yes, the FOX Sports broadcast noted Brent Crews, who won at the Springfield Mile in 2023, was supposed to pilot the No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota. Yet due to a postponement in the zMax CARS Tour, Crews was unable to participate in the ARCA race.
Enter Robusto, who made her ninth start in the ARCA platform. She was eighth fastest in practice. Unfortunately, due to VMS needing to repair her racecar, she could not post a lap in qualifying. As such, she started second-to-last (19th) in the 20-car field.
She impressively drove through the field to the front, all the way up to second at one point. Before the final caution which sent the race into overtime, she was in third place. Reimer was right behind her in fourth.
Reimer meanwhile was making her second career start, both at Springfield. In last year’s race, she started ninth and finished eighth, two laps down.
On Sunday, Reimer was seventh-fastest in practice then qualified third.
As the green and white flags flew simultaneously on the one-lap overtime restart, the two women passed second-place Lavar Scott and made series history.
Unfortunately, the broadcast did not interview either of them post-race. For VMS, it was a solid day as all five drivers finished in the top 10. In addition to Robusto and Reimer, Toni Breidinger finished sixth, with Kris Wright seventh and Amber Balcaen in eighth.
Robusto is only slated for two more races in an ARCA car this year, at Kansas Speedway and Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. Reimer confirmed to ARCA Racing that she will contest…
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