Smith nips Graf to win ARCA race in second overtime lap
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) Zane Smith edged Joseph Graf Jr. by inches on the second overtime lap to win a crash-filled ARCA Series race Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Smith won for the second time in the past three races, with ARCA unable to determine the margin of victory because the cars were so close as they raced side by side throughout the overtime lap.
The 18-year-old Californian came in second in the championship standings. Before winning at Nashville, he had finished second three times.
''My spotter was like, `Ah, damn,''' Smith said. ''I was like, `Are you kidding me? We just lost this?' He said no actually we won it. At that point I was so pumped up my arms and legs were shaking.''
Crashes forced cautions after a re-start with two laps to go and again on the first overtime lap. They wound up running 11 laps more than the scheduled 76. Pole sitter Michael Self was third followed by Sheldon Creed, who came in as the points leader and led going into the first overtime restart.
Graf has driven the past three races with a broken left foot from playing basketball with his brother and was running in his first superspeedway race.
''I felt like we could have gotten it done at the end,'' Graf said. ''It came down to a photo finish.''
He was initially supposed to only run six short-track races, but nearly pulled out a win - and briefly thought he had.
''My spotter came over the radio and told me I did win it, so I thought I did for a minute,'' Graf said. ''It was so close there at the end, it was tough to tell.''
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More AP Auto Racing: https://racing.ap.org
Zane Smith edged Joseph Graf Jr. on the second overtime lap to win a crash-filled ARCA Series race Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Smith won for the second time in the past three races but this one came by .029 seconds as he and Graf raced side by side throughout the overtime lap.
The 18-year-old Californian came in second in the championship standings. Before winning at Nashville, he had finished second three times.
Crashes forced cautions after a re-start with two laps to go and again on the first overtime lap. They wound up running 11 laps more than the scheduled 76.
Pole sitter Michael Self was third followed by Sheldon Creed, who came in as the points leader and led going into the first overtime restart.
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More AP Auto Racing: https://racing.ap.org
