by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Dallas Frueh finished last for the 4th time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Sunday’s Southern Illinois 100 at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds when his #11 Universal Technical Institute Ford fell out with overheating issues after completing 12 of 100 laps.

The finish came in Frueh’s seventh career ARCA Menards Series start.

Frueh’s first appearance on this site came during his rookie season last year, driving the #27 Immigration Law Center Chevrolet for David Richmond’s team at Elko. Since then, Frueh has driven for Fast Track Racing primarily as a start-and-park driver -- the 12 laps he completed both Sunday night at DuQuoin and last week at Milwaukee are the most he’s ever run in any one ARCA Menards Series race.

To date, the Elko race last year remains the only time Frueh was actually awarded last-place points. However, as was the case this past Sunday, he's been the first retirement another three times in his ARCA career ahead of at least one driver that “did not start” (DNS). The first of these came in Frueh’s debut at Berlin when Ed Pompa was unable to take the green flag. The second came at Michigan last year when Zachary Tinkle was a “DNS.” Finally, due to a practice crash that left A.J. Moyer unable to start the race, Frueh was again the first retirement on Sunday night when he pulled off the track with overheating issues. For the sake of consistency in how we rule DNS entries at the ARCA level, LASTCAR.info will consider Frueh’s last-place finish total to be four as of this writing.

As for Moyer, although he was unable to take the green flag, ARCA and Racing-Reference both currently credit him with 18th-place points, which will allow him to maintain his status as a full-time driver for the 2023 season and keep him eligible for the point bonuses awarded to the series’ full-time drivers.

Frueh, meanwhile, is credited with 17th-place points, just behind two of his Fast Track Racing teammates who also saw early ends to their nights. Clayton Weatherman, an ARCA veteran of five starts from 2014 to 2016 and the younger brother of XFINITY Series driver Kyle Weatherman, was the next to pull off the track with electrical issues after 29 laps. Jon Garrett then completed a sweep of the bottom three positions for Fast Track after mechanical issues sidelined him at 39 laps. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Sean Hingorani and Sean Corr, who were both involved in an accident shortly after the halfway mark with 55 and 57 laps completed, respectively. Frankie Muniz was also taken out in the crash, though he briefly returned to the track for a couple of laps to ensure he finished ahead of Hingorani and Corr and scored as many points as possible. Muniz then pulled behind the wall for good, calling it a night with 59 laps completed for a 12th-place finish.

At the front of the field, Jesse Love denied Brent Crews a $34,500 payday for sweeping the dirt races by taking home his ninth victory of the season. With four races remaining, Love’s series championship is all but locked up as his closest competitors - Andres Perez de Lara and Muniz - each sit over 100 points back of the Venturini driver.

Ironically, Frueh nearly pulled off a dirt race sweep of his own. He and Brad Smith both completed 9 laps at Springfield before pulling off with mechanical and overheating issues respectively, placing Frueh in 17th and Smith in 18th. Had Smith just completed one more lap, Frueh would have been the last-place finisher in both dirt races this season.

DID NOT START

18) #06-A.J. Moyer 

THE BOTTOM FIVE

17) #11-Dallas Frueh / 12 laps / overheating

16) #10-Clayton Weatherman / 29 laps / electrical

15) #66-Jon Garrett / 39 laps / mechanical

14) #15-Sean Hingorani / 55 laps / crash

13) #8-Sean Corr / 57 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (8)

2nd) Ford (6)

3rd) Toyota (2)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Smith Brothers Racing, Fast Track Racing (4)

2nd) Clubb Racing (2)

3rd) Coughlin Brothers Racing, KLAS Motorsports, Our Motorsports, Spraker Racing Enterprises, Tamayo-Cosentino Racing, Kimmel Racing (1)

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 division. You can also find the full manufacturers’ and owners’ standings HERE.

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP