Joey Iest, No. 54 ASN/Basila Ranch Ford Fusion
Start: 3rd
Finish: 5th
Joey Iest qualified 3rd, but the inside row checked up hard on the initial start and caused him to fall to 11th on the opening lap.
The California native stayed composed and worked his way back through the field to second-place on lap 82. He was on the bumper of the leader when the caution flag waved on lap 90 for pit stops.
The pitting discrepancy forced the No. 54 to restart the race in 5th. Iest quickly moved to fourth and was running there when the caution waved on lap 164.
After the lengthy rain delay and lineup reshuffling due to the pitting error, Iest would restart third and come away with a fifth-place finish in his ARCA Menards Series East debut.
Iest on New Smyrna: “It felt great to come to a new track with a new team and have speed right out of the box. After that initial start where the inside lane bottled up, I think we showed that we had one of the fastest long run cars here. I wish we could have gotten a long run to the finish, but a top-five to start our ARCA Menards Series East campaign with DGR is awesome. I can’t wait to get to Pensacola in a few weeks and build on this performance.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
