Michael Self's loss was Ty Majeski's gain in Thursday night's ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150 on Spectrum Pole Night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Self led a race-high 91 laps from the pole before his luck ran out - losing the lead in the final laps when he spun from the point and fell victim to differing pit strategy in the closing circuits, giving Majeski a golden opportunity to speed to the front and hold off Sheldon Creed for his first ARCA victory.
A caution with one lap to go afforded Creed and third-place finisher Gus Dean a chance to unseat Majeski's Chad Bryant Racing Ford. Majeski, however, needed only two turns to clear his challengers and capture an emotional maiden triumph at America's Home for Racing. Harrison Burton finished fourth behind Majeski, Creed and Dean. Self, the series points leader, ended up fifth.
TY MAJESKI, No. 22 Chad Bryant Racing Ford (Race Winner): "It's unbelievable. Racing has the highest highs and the lowest lows, but it feels unbelievable to come back here and get a win. Michael (Self) obviously had the dominant car. Sometimes you win them that way and sometimes you lose them. Overall, I'm thankful it finally played into our favor. Last season was by far the hardest season of my career. To come back here with a W means a lot. I'm doing everything I can to stay relevant and being in Victory Lane obviously helps."
SHELDON CREED, No. 21 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet (Runner-Up): "I was really surprised with how much speed that 25 (Self) had. They were incredibly fast. I tried everything I had and I could stay there with him for a few laps, but I couldn't do anything. He was really stuck to the bottom there. … I just drove my butt off. I don't know where I lined up, 15th or somewhere around there, and I think I was fifth in two laps. I was just trying to go where people weren't. I think it's easier when you're in such a big pack like that because so many people are racing hard, so I got really good runs and I was able to split the middle here and there. I just got really good restarts the last few times."
GUS DEAN, No. 32 Win Tron Racing Chevrolet (Third-Place Finisher): "Majeski was really quick, especially on the high line. I could run the top really hard when I had someone on the inside sort of shooting the air up and keeping it rotated, but it got tight up there by myself. … I stayed eighth until the last 10 (laps), and then we got up there to second. I wish Sheldon would've given me a little bit more of a boost on the bottom, but that's just me sulking because he did what he had to do, for sure. … Got a good restart there, ran it wide open in turns 1 and 2 and just couldn't get momentum built up enough on the bottom to stay with those guys."
