# 2023 Music City 200

The 2024 Music City 200 was the 3rd stock car race of the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East season, and the 3rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee, a 0.596 mile (0.959 km) permanent asphalt oval shaped short track. The race was originally scheduled to be contested over 200 laps, but was increased to 205 laps, due to a NASCAR overtime finish. In an action packed finish, Luke Fenhaus, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, would steal the win from the dominating William Sawalich, taking the lead on the final restart and leading the final lap to earn his first career ARCA Menards Series East win. Sawalich had dominated the entire race, leading all but three laps, but eventually lost the lead on the final restart, finishing 2nd. To fill out the podium, Sean Hingorani, driving for Venturini Motorsports, would finish in 3rd, respectively.

## Report
### Background

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series) races from 1958 to 1984.
The speedway is currently an 18 degree banked paved oval. The track is 0.596 mi (0.959 km) long. Inside the larger oval is a 1⁄4 mi (0.40 km) paved oval.
The track was converted to a 1⁄2 mi (0.80 km) paved oval in 1957, when it began to be a NASCAR series track. The speedway was lengthened between the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The corners were cut down from 35 degrees to their present 18 degrees in 1972. The track was repaved between the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

#### Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.
| # | Driver | Team | Make | Sponsor |
| 01 | Brayton Laster | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | Running's Racing Designs |
| 1 | Jake Finch | Phoenix Racing | Toyota | Phoenix Construction |
| 06 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson Racing | Toyota | Wayne Peterson Racing |
| 6 | Lavar Scott (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | Max Siegel Inc. |
| 10 | Tim Monroe | Fast Track Racing | Ford | Universal Technical Institute |
| 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | NASCAR Foundation NASCAR Day Giveathon |
| 12 | Stephanie Moyer | Fast Track Racing | Chevrolet | Mark Rumbold Farms / UTI |
| 15 | Sean Hingorani (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | GearWrench |
| 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Starkey / SoundGear |
| 20 | Gio Ruggiero | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | Yahoo! / Mobil 1 |
| 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Performance |
| 31 | Rita Goulet (R) | Rise Motorsports | Chevrolet | Rise Motorsports |
| 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | Insta-Lub Fast Lube Centers |
| 95 | Tanner Arms | MAN Motorsports | Toyota | Sunset Park RV Manufacturing |
| 98 | Dale Shearer | Shearer Speed Racing | Toyota | Shearer Speed Racing |
| Official entry list |||||

## Practice

The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, May 13, at 2:00 PM CST, and would last for 60 minutes. William Sawalich, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 19.683, and a speed of 109.008 mph (175.431 km/h).
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 19.683 | 109.008 |
| 2 | 20 | Gio Ruggiero | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 19.808 | 108.320 |
| 3 | 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 19.895 | 107.846 |
| Full practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, May 13, at 4:00 PM CST. The qualifying system used is a single-car, two-lap based system. All drivers will be on track by themselves and will have two laps to post a qualifying time. The driver who sets the fastest time in qualifying will win the pole.
William Sawalich, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 19.415, and a speed of 110.512 mph (177.852 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 19.415 | 110.512 |
| 2 | 20 | Gio Ruggiero | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 19.454 | 110.291 |
| 3 | 15 | Sean Hingorani (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 19.589 | 109.531 |
| 4 | 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 19.682 | 109.013 |
| 5 | 6 | Lavar Scott (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 19.745 | 108.665 |
| 6 | 95 | Tanner Arms | MAN Motorsports | Toyota | 19.898 | 107.830 |
| 7 | 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 20.006 | 107.248 |
| 8 | 10 | Tim Monroe | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 21.516 | 99.721 |
| 9 | 12 | Stephanie Moyer | Fast Track Racing | Chevrolet | 22.276 | 96.319 |
| 10 | 01 | Brayton Laster | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 22.487 | 95.415 |
| 11 | 31 | Rita Goulet (R) | Rise Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.552 | 95.140 |
| 12 | 98 | Dale Shearer | Shearer Speed Racing | Toyota | 23.209 | 92.447 |
| 13 | 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25.065 | 85.601 |
| 14 | 1 | Jake Finch | Phoenix Racing | Toyota | – | – |
| 15 | 06 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson Racing | Toyota | – | – |
| Official qualifying results |||||||

## Race results

| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
| 1 | 4 | 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 205 | 2 | Running | 47 |
| 2 | 1 | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 205 | 202 | Running | 45 |
| 3 | 3 | 15 | Sean Hingorani (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 205 | 1 | Running | 42 |
| 4 | 2 | 20 | Gio Ruggiero | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 205 | 0 | Running | 40 |
| 5 | 14 | 1 | Jake Finch | Phoenix Racing | Toyota | 205 | 0 | Running | 39 |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | Lavar Scott (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 205 | 0 | Running | 38 |
| 7 | 7 | 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 203 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 8 | 6 | 95 | Tanner Arms | MAN Motorsports | Toyota | 196 | 0 | Running | 36 |
| 9 | 8 | 10 | Tim Monroe | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 192 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 10 | 12 | 98 | Dale Shearer | Shearer Speed Racing | Toyota | 176 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 11 | 11 | 31 | Rita Goulet (R) | Rise Motorsports | Chevrolet | 146 | 0 | Accident | 33 |
| 12 | 13 | 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 87 | 0 | Mechanical | 32 |
| 13 | 9 | 12 | Stephanie Moyer | Fast Track Racing | Chevrolet | 20 | 0 | Mechanical | 31 |
| 14 | 10 | 01 | Brayton Laster | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 18 | 0 | Fuel Pressure | 30 |
| 15 | 15 | 06 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson Racing | Toyota | 10 | 0 | Brakes | 29 |
| Official race results ||||||||||

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | William Sawalich | 135 |
| 1 | 2 | Luke Fenhaus | 130 (-5) |
| 1 | 3 | Jake Finch | 128 (–7) |
| 2 | 4 | Sean Hingorani | 116 (–19) |
| 1 | 5 | Lavar Scott | 116 (–19) |
| 1 | 6 | Zachary Tinkle | 112 (–23) |
| 1 | 7 | Tim Monroe | 97 (–38) |
| 2 | 8 | Dale Shearer | 94 (–41) |
| | 9 | Rita Goulet | 94 (–41) |
| 4 | 10 | Tanner Arms | 72 (–63) |