Connor Zilisch Remains Perfect with Michigan ARCA Win

Connor Zilisch held off a late charge from Andres Perez and Tanner Gray in the closing laps to score the win in Friday’s (Aug. 16) ARCA Menards Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Zilisch remains perfect in ARCA competition in 2024, with Michigan being his fourth win in just as many starts this season.

Perez, tonight’s polesitter and the current ARCA Menards Series points leader, finished second. Gray led the most laps and came home third, while Jake Finch and Kris Wright rounded out the top five.

Perez led at the start before he was passed by Gray. The elder Gray led most of the early portion of the race before the two built-in caution flags. Those proved to be the only cautions of the race, and the low attrition left only eight cars on the lead lap by the race’s end.

On the final restart with 23 laps to go, Zilisch broke away from the field as a four-wide battle for second developed behind him. Perez and Gray soon established themselves as the second- and third-place cars, and they began to close in as the laps clicked away.

Perez ultimately got to within a quarter-second of Zilisch, but he was unable to close further as the No. 28 of Zilisch continued to take his line away. He was not able to make another charge before Zilisch got the trophy.

“We were faster than [Zilisch]”, Perez told Frontstretch after the race. “It’s tough on these types of racetracks, where aerodynamics is so sensitive to make an actual move. We were close, but never close enough to make it.”

“I’m super frustrated there with second, we’ve been so close so many times. It’s hard to get there to victory lane, but it’s a very good day in the end, a second.”

Lavar Scott, who entered the race second in points, pitted early in the event with a flat right-front tire, and the team discovered other problems with his car during the stop. He fell several laps off the pace and finished 15th, 11 laps down.

Andy Jankowiak had a promising race going before he slapped the Turn two wall in the closing laps. He pulled behind the wall afterward, unable to make the checkered flag.

The next ARCA race is on Sunday, Aug. 18 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The Springfield ARCA 100 will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, with streaming provided by FloRacing.