2024 Pensacola 150
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| Race details[1][2][3][4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 8 of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East | |||
| Date | March 23, 2024 | ||
| Official name | 5th Annual Pensacola 150 | ||
| Location | Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.80 km (0.5 miles) | ||
| Distance | 150 laps, 75 mi (120 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 150 laps, 75 mi (120 km) | ||
| Average speed | 74.298 mph (119.571 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 17.126 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 80 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Gio Ruggiero | Venturini Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FloRacing | ||
| Announcers | Charles Krall | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | ARCA Racing Network | ||
The 2024 Pensacola 150 was the first stock car race of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East season, and the 5th running of the event. The race was held on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, a 0.5 mile (0.80 km) permanent asphalt oval shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 150 laps to complete. In a thrilling race that featured an intense battle between Gio Ruggiero and William Sawalich, Ruggiero, driving for Venturini Motorsports, would take the lead from Sawalich on the final restart following the race break, and held him off for the final 70 laps to earn his first career ARCA Menards Series East win.[5] Sawalich, who started on the pole, dominated the first half of the race, leading a race-high 80 laps before losing the lead on the final restart and ultimately finished 2nd. To fill out the podium, Bubba Pollard, driving for Phoenix Racing, would finish 3rd, respectively.
Background
Five Flags Speedway is a half-mile (0.8 km) paved oval racetrack in Pensacola, Florida. It opened in 1953 and is located on Pine Forest Road.[6] It is christened after the nickname of Pensacola—"City of Five Flags."[7]
It runs several local classes during the regular racing season (March – October). These classes include Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, Pro Trucks, Outlaw Stocks, Sportsman, and Pure Stocks. The races are usual held on Friday nights bi-weekly. The track has also hosted many regional touring series.[8][9]
In 2019, the ARCA Menards Series returned to the track, but for one year only. After the merge between ARCA and NASCAR after the 2019 season, the former NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, (now called ARCA Menards Series East) began racing at Five Flags in 2020.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Notes
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, March 23, at 2:30 PM EST, and would last for 60 minutes.[10] Jake Finch, driving for Venturini Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 17.479, and a speed of 102.981 mph (165.732 km/h).[11]
| Pos.[12] | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | Jake Finch | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 17.479 | 102.981 |
| 2 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 17.511 | 102.793 |
| 3 | 1 | Bubba Pollard | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 17.707 | 101.655 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, March 23, at 5:00 PM EST.[10] The qualifying system used is a single-car, two-lap based system. All drivers will be on track by themselves and will have two laps to post a qualifying time. The driver who sets the fastest time in qualifying will win the pole.[13]
William Sawalich, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 17.126, and a speed of 105.103 mph (169.147 km/h).[14]
Three drivers withdrew from the race: Ed Pompa, Brad Smith, and Dale Shearer.
