Phillip McGilton needed about fifty more laps and another pit stop and the ARCA RE/MAX Series could have seen another first time winner this season, but instead had to settle for a career-best fourth after starting on the outside pole in Saturday night’s Prairie Meadows 250.
The weekend was solid for the Brewco Motorsports team. Carrying the SIPerformance colors in the second event held at the new Iowa Speedway, McGilton appeared to have won the practice round but late runs by Bryan Reffner and Justin Allgaier dropped the No. 47 team to third in the rundown. It didn’t matter, McGilton was happy with his car and the performance of the team.
“We have a good car, the car is really strong, ” said McGilton. “There is still more in it. We were only running about 90 percent. We’re going to tweak the car a little bit and hope for the best in qualifying. ”
In time trials, McGilton laid a strong lap of 23.617 seconds at 133.378 MPH which appeared good enough for the ARCA pole, but then rookie Michael Annett set a lap of 23.471 seconds knocking the Marion, Illinois native from the top-spot.
For the fifth straight week, McGilton had qualified inside the top-three, settling for second for the ninth race of the season. “The car was good, I was a little loose, but we just missed the pole. We’re going to get our first pole real soon, but it’s always good to start near the front. ”
Taking the green flag shortly after 8:00 pm local time, McGilton was overtaken by cars on the inside groove, the preferred line at Iowa Speedway. With guidance from crew chief Danny Gill, McGilton quickly gathered his rhythm back and began passing cars one by one.
McGilton hovered inside the top-five when the first round of pit stops occurred. The Brewco Motorsports team bolted on four tires, added Sunoco Racing fuel while also adjusting the tire pressure to help the handling of his car.
The adjustments worked when McGilton continued to work his way towards the lead. He remained in the top-five for nearly the entire race, but it was lap 209 when McGilton made history.
On lap 209, he took control of the ARCA field leading five circuits before being overtaken by eventual winner Frank Kimmel on lap 214. McGilton tired to fend off Michael McDowell and Michael Annett, but to no avail. The leading ARCA RE/MAX Series Rookie-of-the-Year candidate would cross the line fourth, a career best in 15 races. His finish on Saturday overthrows a sixth place finish in April at Salem Speedway.
“It was a real good night for the Brewco Motorsports team, ” said McGilton following the event. “We tried to go for the victory; we just came up a little short. I’m real proud of the guys for all their hard work today. Our first win together is coming, I can feel it. We needed to change our luck around from Toledo and I think we did it in style. ”
With his thundering performance Saturday night, McGilton rises from seventh to fifth in the championship standings trailing Frank Kimmel, Justin Allgaier, Bobby Gerhart and Dexter Bean respectively.
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