LONG POND, Pa. – Ty Majeski scored his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series victory in come-from-behind fashion in Friday’s General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 at Pocono Raceway.
Majeski trailed race leader Riley Herbst by nearly 20 seconds prior to the only caution of the afternoon, but was able to stay in contact with him after the race resumed.
Herbst led as they came to the pits, Majeski on lap 67 and Herbst on lap 68, but Majeski was able to make up time and steal the lead as Herbst exited pit lane.
“It’s all about being with the right people,” Majeski said. “Being with Chad Bryant and Paul Andrews has been incredible. They have put together a great team and the guys all work hard to make days like today happen.”
Majeski credited his final pit stop and the way he worked through lapped traffic for his win.
“Coming to pit road I thought I could have gotten a little more, but I maximized my speed,” he said. “I came into the box hot and got out pretty good. I knew it was going to be tough for the 18 to match that. I saw him leaving his pit and knew he would have to use the apron in turn one and I had a good head of steam going.”
“You don’t want to catch the lapped cars at the wrong time,” he said. “I tried to back myself up so I caught the lapped cars at the right time and it really helped.”
“Any seat time is good seat time,” Majeski said. “I don’t have a lot of seat time compared to some of the guys that are younger than I am. To be able to run races two weeks in a row is huge for me. We really hit it off well.”
Herbst dominated the first 68 laps of the day, leading by nearly 20 seconds before the caution waved for Bobby Gerhart’s stalled car. With Majeski able to stay in contact after the restart, it all came down to the final pit stop, which saw Majeski bypass Herbst.
“I wish it was the fall race when it’s only 60 laps,” a dejected Herbst said. “We freed it up a lot and I couldn’t get the throttle down off one one and three. He closed up there at the end and we put two tires on at the end and swung for the fence but I couldn’t make a run on him.”
“The 18 car has finished second a lot this season,” he said, referring to the second-place finishes for the team with himself driving at Talladega and Ty Gibbs driving at Pensacola and Toledo. “That’s good for the owner’s standpoint but I am here to win races and prove myself for the other ranks and I didn’t do that today.”
Christian Eckes finished third, followed by Raphael Lessard and Bret Holmes. On the top-four finishes were on the lead lap at the checkered flag.
The finish:
Ty Majeski, Riley Herbst, Christian Eckes, Raphael Lessard, Bret Holmes, Harrison Burton, Hailie Deegan, Joe Graf Jr., Cole Glasson, Travis Braden, Michael Self, Ed Pompa, Scott Melton, Tim Richmond, Brad Smith, Bobby Gerhart, Tommy Vigh Jr., Dick Doheny.