ARCA: Basham claims last, Moeller claims tiebreaker for East Series title

Sep 21

Mike Basham's #69 in the garage area at IRP last month.
PHOTO: Colby Evans, @StartAndParkCar

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Mike Basham finished last for the 6th time in his ARCA Menards Series career (and 3rd time in his ARCA Menards Series East career) in last Thursday’s Bush’s Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway when his #69 Copraya.com Ford fell out with mechanical issues after completing 9 of 200 laps.

The finish came in Basham’s 87th career ARCA Menards Series start and 5th ARCA Menards Series East start.

The final ARCA combination race of the 2023 season, Thursday night’s race at Bristol also marked the season finale for the ARCA Menards Series East. Going into the event, Nate Moeller, who was absent from the Bristol entry list, led the LASTCAR ARCA Menards Series East Drivers’ Championship by one last-place finish over Tim Monroe, Brayton Laster, Alex Clubb, Jeff Smith, and Mike Basham. With Laster also missing from the entry list, the bottom-five tiebreaker left Monroe as the only driver with a chance to dethrone Moeller, as a last-place finish would have given Monroe five bottom-five finishes to Moeller’s four.

In total, 32 cars appeared on the entry list. Of these, 31 ran at least one lap in practice, while 29 were able to take to the track in qualifying. Monroe was the only driver absent from the timing and scoring charts during practice, while Chuck Buchanan Jr., Rita Goulet, and Frankie Muniz were all unable to set a qualifying time. A.J. Moyer was the slowest of the 29 cars that took part in the session, while Basham’s entry rounded out the Bottom Five in the starting lineup.

Rita Goulet waves to the camera as her husband Tim brings their No. 31 Chevrolet
to the garage shortly before the green flag.
SCREENSHOT: FS1

As the race began, it looked as if only 31 cars would be classified as having started the race. Goulet’s #31 entry, now being run by her husband Tim following a driver change, was seen on the FS1 broadcast being pushed back to the garage area as the field was warming up on the pace laps. He was eventually able to return to the track, meaning all 32 entries would be classified in the official results. He would ultimately complete 43 laps before spinning out and collecting Monroe in the crash. Goulet and Monroe would finish 28th and 25th with 43 and 54 laps completed respectively. Crucially, this meant Monroe avoided a last-place finish, eliminating him from LASTCAR title contention.

Alex Clubb spins on the front straightway coming to complete his first lap of the race.
At left, Basham has just entered the frame in his red #69.
SCREENSHOT: FS1

On Lap 2, Alex Clubb looked as if he might end up claiming last-place as his #03 Ford spun out and hit the inside frontstretch wall. However, Clubb’s team was able to repair the damage, allowing him to finish 22nd as the final car running at the finish with 104 laps completed. With Goulet and Clubb both recovering from their initial problems, Basham’s 9 laps completed secured him last place.

While Basham equaled Moeller’s total of two last-place finishes, because this was only his second start of the ARCA East season, Basham’s season total of Bottom Fives also tallies up to two. Moeller, meanwhile, finished the season with four bottom-five finishes, giving him the tiebreaker over Basham for the title.

A few laps after Basham’s retirement from the race, Matthew Gould pulled his #42 Chevrolet off the track, finishing with just 12 laps completed due to overheating issues. Brad Smith was the next to pull behind the wall as mechanical issues ended his day after 24 circuits. Luke Fenhaus, the only driver with an outside shot at preventing William Sawalich from claiming the ARCA East championship, suffered two incidents in the opening 40 laps, the combined damage from which ultimately proved terminal. Fenhaus was credited with completing 30 laps and a 29th-place finish just behind Goulet, who rounded out the Bottom Five.

Up front, Sawalich clinched the ARCA East championship in style by passing current ARCA national championship leader Jesse Love with nine laps to go to take the race win. Love hung onto a runner-up finish ahead of Andres Perez de Lara in third, allowing Love to inch even further ahead in his own championship points battle.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

32) #69-Mike Basham / 9 laps / mechanical

31) #42-Matthew Gould / 12 laps / overheating

30) #48-Brad Smith / 24 laps / mechanical

29) #28-Luke Fenhaus / 30 laps / crash

28) #31-Tim Goulet / 43 laps / crash

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE to view the full standings for both the main ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions. You can also find the full manufacturers’ and owners’ standings HERE.

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet, Ford (8)

2nd) Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Fast Track Racing (5)

2nd) Smith Brothers Racing (4)

3rd) Clubb Racing, Kimmel Racing (2)

4th) Coughlin Brothers Racing, KLAS Motorsports, Our Motorsports, Spraker Racing Enterprises, Tamayo-Cosentino Racing (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP