The 2017 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards racing season came to a conclusion Friday night with Venturini Motorsports wrapping up its 35th year of series competition at Kansas Speedway.
ARCA’s last dance featured three familiar drivers coming out of VMS’ driving stable – Spencer Davis, Natalie Decker and newcomer Cole Rouse.
The three-car effort was led by Spencer Davis who drove his No.55 Musselman’s BIG CUP Applesauce Toyota to a seventh place finish, Natalie Decker finished 12th and Cole Rouse completed his second series race in the 13th position.
Davis, 18, competing in his seventh race of the season for VMS notched his best finish since finishing third in his series debut back in May at Talladega Superspeedway.
“We fired off in the ninth spot and moved our way inside the top-5 early,” said Davis. “Had a really good Toyota most of the race and improved with solid pit stops. I thought we had a good shot at the end with ten to go – after that final pit stop we put some cold General Tires on and made a charge. Spun the tires on the final restart but had momentum going into turn 2 – unfortunately we were three-wide and it slowed our momentum and had to settle for seventh. Can’t complain, we had a great Musselman’s Toyota today and ended the season in good shape.”
Natalie Decker, 20, made headlines prior to her seventh series start of the season, announcing plans to run the full ARCA schedule with VMS in 2018.
The driver of the No.25 Yo Cool Frozen Yogurt / N29 Capital Partners Toyota Camry held her own during her first visit to Kansas Speedway, finishing 12th and bringing home her sixth top-15 in seven season starts.
“I was hoping for a better finish but happy with the outcome of tonight’s race,” said Decker. “My Toyota Camry was super free through the center and tight off most off the night. We struggled a bit early but my crew chief (Dave Leiner) made a bunch of changes and got the car really dialed in towards the end. The experience I gained tonight will pay huge dividends come next season. Every time I strap into the car I’m getting more comfortable and able to provide solid input. It’s been a great season – I’m super pumped for next season!”
Decker’s next event will be the ARCA season opener in February at Daytona International Speedway.
Cole Rouse, piloting the No.15 Toyota Camry with support from Musselman’s BIG CUP Applesauce and Flexzilla rounded out VMS’ team effort finishing in the 13th position at Kansas Speedway.
Rouse, 20, made just his second ARCA Series start of his career. The Fort Smith, Arkansas native was recently crowed the CARS Tour Super Late Model Champion driving for Kyle Bush Motorsports.
“We found some speed at the end but overall didn’t have the night we wanted,” said Rouse. “I kind of moved around all night and had some success on the top side but just never got going. Track position seemed to hurt us too. I wish we could’ve given Musselman’s and Flexzilla a better showing – we’ll just have to figure it out next time out.”
The next scheduled activing for the ARCA Racing Series will be a two-day composite body open test at Talladega Superspeedway November 7-8. Venturini Motorsports will participate and will announce which drivers will participate in the coming weeks. The 65th annual national championship awards banquet follows in Indianapolis on December 9th.
VMS PR
