April 23, 2021 (Talladega, Alabama) – Six weeks removed from the last ARCA Menards Series season event, drivers and fans alike are prepared to test their nerves when ARCA’s top touring series returns to action for the third event of the 2021 season at Talladega Superspeedway in Saturday’s General Tire 150.
Featuring a mammoth 2.66-mile racing surface, Talladega delivers ultra-fast speeds and a level of anxiety to match. Known as the equalizer, the characteristics of restrictor plate racing is like no other. Testing a driver’s courage, cars run in a tight draft leaving no room for error, and rely on a little bit of luck to survive the 200-mile event.
Topping this weekend’s entry list at Talladega is defending race champion and Venturini Motorsports’ Drew Dollar (No.15 Sunbelts Rental Toyota) who scorched the field during last season’s spring race leading 40 of 76 laps to earn his first career series victory.
Dollar’s superspeedway win proving no fluke, the 20-year old driver has shown a knack for restrictor plate racing, boasting a second-place finishing average in three career starts at Daytona and Talladega.
Poised to challenge his ‘Dega winning teammate is Corey Heim (No.20 JBL Audio Toyota), this season’s Daytona winner and current ARCA Menard Series’ championship points leader.
The 18-year old Georgia native currently holds a slim 2-point advantage over fellow Toyota driver Ty Gibbs during the early season points battle. Off to a fast start, Heim carries a near perfect 1.5 average finish leading into the weekend.
Gracie Trotter (No.25 Mobil 1 Toyota) rounds out VMS’ driver lineup at Talladega. Set to make her first career start at the famed Alabama track, Trotter is focused on rebounding after disappointing finishes to start the season.
Trotter, who signed a 10-race deal with VMS during the off-season, became the first female driver in history to win an ARCA sanctioned event after capturing the checkered flag in 2020 during the ARCA West race at the Bullring in Las Vegas.
Saturday’s General Tire 200 will be carried live on FS1 and streamed on FOX SPORTS GO starting at 1PM EST.
TEAM NOTES:
Venturini Motorsports enters the weekend with 73 all-time ARCA Menards Series Victories, including one win (Drew Dollar ’20) at Talladega. Team patriarch and co-owner, “Big” Bill Venturini, a two-time ARCA driver champion, holds the all-time track and series’ qualifying record set in 1987 with a nearly impossible fast lap of 205.432.
