# 2023 Pensacola 200

The 2023 Pensacola 200 was the first stock car race of the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East season, and the 4th running of the event. The race was held on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, a 0.5 mile (0.80 km) permanent asphalt oval shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. In his first career start, William Sawalich, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would go on to obliterate the competition, winning the pole and leading every lap of the race to earn his first career ARCA Menards Series East win. To fill out the podium, Luke Fenhaus, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, and Jake Finch, driving for Venturini Motorsports, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

## Report
### Background

Five Flags Speedway is a half-mile (0.8 km) paved oval racetrack in Pensacola, Florida. It opened in 1953 and is located on Pine Forest Road. It is christened after the nickname of Pensacola—"City of Five Flags."
It runs several local classes during the regular racing season (March – October). These classes include Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, Pro Trucks, Outlaw Stocks, Sportsman, and Pure Stocks. The races are usual held on Friday nights bi-weekly. The track has also hosted many regional touring series.
In 2019, the ARCA Menards Series returned to the track, but for one year only. After the merge between ARCA and NASCAR after the 2019 season, the former NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, (now called ARCA Menards Series East) began racing at Five Flags in 2020.

#### Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.
| # | Driver | Team | Make | Sponsor |
| 01 | Dallas Frueh | Fast Track Racing | Ford | Fast Track Racing |
| 06 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson Racing | Toyota | Peterson Motorsports |
| 6 | Lavar Scott (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | Max Siegel Inc. |
| 10 | Ed Pompa | Fast Track Racing | Ford | HYTORC of New York / Double "H" Ranch |
| 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | Racing for Rescues / IndianaOwned.com |
| 12 | Tim Monroe | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | Fast Track Racing |
| 15 | Sean Hingorani (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | GearWrench |
| 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | Starkey / SoundGear |
| 20 | Jake Finch | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | Phoenix Construction |
| 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | Chevrolet Performance |
| 31 | Rita Goulet (R) | Rise Motorsports | Chevrolet | Hitman Wear |
| 41 | Tyler Reif (R) | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | Ford | Power Gen Components / Stoney's |
| 46 | R. J. Smotherman | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | Ford | Country AF Radio / Stoney's |
| 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, March 25, at 2:30 PM EST, and would last for 1 hour. William Sawalich, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 17.665, and a speed of 101.896 mph (163.986 km/h).
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 17.665 | 101.896 |
| 2 | 20 | Jake Finch | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 17.715 | 101.609 |
| 3 | 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 17.830 | 100.953 |
| Full practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, March 25, at 4:30 PM EST. 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 17.220, and a speed of 104.530 mph (168.225 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 17.220 | 104.530 |
| 2 | 20 | Jake Finch | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 17.484 | 102.951 |
| 3 | 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 17.536 | 102.646 |
| 4 | 41 | Tyler Reif (R) | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | Ford | 17.666 | 101.891 |
| 5 | 6 | Lavar Scott (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 17.861 | 100.778 |
| 6 | 15 | Sean Hingorani (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 17.952 | 100.267 |
| 7 | 95 | Tanner Arms | MAN Motorsports | Toyota | 17.957 | 100.239 |
| 8 | 46 | R. J. Smotherman | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | Ford | 18.249 | 98.636 |
| 9 | 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 18.296 | 98.382 |
| 10 | 12 | Tim Monroe | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 18.873 | 95.374 |
| 11 | 10 | Ed Pompa | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 19.623 | 91.729 |
| 12 | 01 | Dallas Frueh | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 19.685 | 91.440 |
| 13 | 31 | Rita Goulet (R) | Rise Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20.832 | 86.406 |
| 14 | 06 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson Racing | Toyota | 21.463 | 83.865 |
| 15 | 98 | Dale Shearer | Shearer Speed Racing | Toyota | – | – |
| Official qualifying results |||||||

## Race results

| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 200 | Running | 49 |
| 2 | 3 | 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Running | 42 |
| 3 | 2 | 20 | Jake Finch | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running | 41 |
| 4 | 6 | 15 | Sean Hingorani (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running | 40 |
| 5 | 5 | 6 | Lavar Scott (R) | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Running | 39 |
| 6 | 4 | 41 | Tyler Reif (R) | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | Ford | 198 | 0 | Running | 38 |
| 7 | 9 | 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 194 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 8 | 7 | 95 | Tanner Arms | MAN Motorsports | Toyota | 193 | 0 | Running | 36 |
| 9 | 8 | 46 | R. J. Smotherman | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | Ford | 193 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 10 | 11 | 10 | Ed Pompa | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 187 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 11 | 10 | 12 | Tim Monroe | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 37 | 0 | Overheating | 33 |
| 12 | 12 | 01 | Dallas Frueh | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 22 | 0 | Overheating | 32 |
| 13 | 14 | 06 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson Racing | Toyota | 3 | 0 | Brakes | 31 |
| 14 | 15 | 98 | Dale Shearer | Shearer Speed Racing | Toyota | 0 | 0 | Oil Pressure | 30 |
| 15 | 13 | 31 | Rita Goulet (R) | Rise Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Suspension | 29 |
| Official race results ||||||||||

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | William Sawalich | 49 |
| 2 | Luke Fenhaus | 42 (-7) |
| 3 | Jake Finch | 41 (–8) |
| 4 | Sean Hingorani | 40 (–9) |
| 5 | Lavar Scott | 39 (–10) |
| 6 | Tyler Reif | 38 (–11) |
| 7 | Zachary Tinkle | 37 (–12) |
| 8 | Tanner Arms | 36 (–13) |
| 9 | R. J. Smotherman | 35 (–14) |
| 10 | Ed Pompa | 34 (–15) |