Bill Hendren receives retirement gift as Ryan Unzicker takes the win at DuQuoin

It was no surprise that Ryan Unzicker was the car to beat during the ARCA Menards Series race at DuQuoin. Due to qualifying being canceled from inclement weather, Unzicker had to start from the 20th position, and when the first caution came out on lap four, Unzicker had already made it to the third position. He had a hard-fought battle with Jesse Love, but after taking the lead from him on lap 18, he would be unstoppable for the rest of the race.

The race would ultimately end on lap 78, due to periods of rain showers. Unzicker was in the lead at the time and was later declared the winner of the race. It was only his second career ARCA Menards Series win, his first one coming at the Springfield Mile in 2020. It was also a special win, as this was the final scheduled race for Unzicker’s team owner, Bill Hendren.

“Well, that’s how good he is,” Hendren said during an interview. “You know, the car was okay, but he’s so good. And, you know, we would of waited a long time ago if it wasn’t for Ryan, that’s just the kind of person he is.”

“It was a tough one,” Unzicker said after the race. “I had to really rely on my General Tires to get the grip on the restart. I knew I had to try to beat [Love] into [Turn] 1, and he got a good run. Coming off of [Turn] 2 I slipped up a little bit and went high because there was a little bit of rain back there. He was able to get underneath us down the backstretch. Somehow I got it pulled off there.”

Credit: Jacob Seelman Photography

Jesse Love started the race from the pole and would lead the first few laps, before getting past by Unzicker.

“I wanted to win really bad,” said Love after the race. “I entered Turn 1, and it was wet, and I went straight to the fence, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ So I had to slam in the gas, get it pointed, and he slid up and I crossed him over. And then we drag raced down into Turn 3, and I let him run me in there too narrow.“ I should have done more to win the race.”

Another good points day for Daniel Dye and Nick Sanchez, as they finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Rajah Caruth, another championship contender, suffered a blown engine on lap eighteen, causing him to slip back in the points. This was Rajah’s first DNF of the season.

The first caution flew on lap four after several incidents occurred. Buck Stevens would stall in turn one, and Daniel Dye and Rajah Caruth would get together, also spinning in turn one. A lap later, Amber Balcaen would make a hard impact with the inside wall, after getting spun around by Caruth. After Caruth’s engine blew on lap 18, the caution flew again. Shortly after the restart, Taylor Gray would blow his engine, ending his day. During the next green flag run, Corey Heim would spin by himself in front of teammate Love. The caution did not come out as Heim was able to re-fire and keep going.

Joe Cooksey, making his first ARCA start since 2018, ended up with a top ten finish, getting eighth position. The rest of the top ten consisted of Greg Van Alst, Tim Monroe, Joe Cooksey, Corey Heim, and Kelly Kovski.

The points battle for the championship remains fairly close, as Daniel Dye is now only 10 points behind Nick Sanchez. Rajah Caruth is now twenty-eight points back due to a blown engine on lap eighteen.

The next ARCA race will take place at Kansas Speedway on 9 September.

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