2023 ARCA Menards Series Berlin ARCA Herr's 200 at Berlin Raceway - Race Highlights

An almost certain victory for Jesse Love evaporated in the final two laps as he struggled to navigate slower traffic, which allowed William Sawalich to muscle Love out of the way coming to the white flag and take his first victory in the headlining ARCA Menards Series division.

Sawalich would have preferred a cleaner route around Love for the win, but he was more than happy to celebrate in Victory Lane with his Joe Gibbs Racing crew after fighting all evening just to keep Love within his line of sight.
Sawalich faced many of the same frustrations his fellow ARCA competitors had endured during the last few races while trying to chase Love down for the win.

After enduring two rough races to start the 2023 season, Love and Venturini Motorsports broke through for their first victory of the year at Talladega Superspeedway, which they followed with two more convincing victories at Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
A time of 16.447 seconds in qualifying gave Love the advantage he needed to set his own pace at Berlin from the opening lap. He faced little opposition from Sawalich and the rest of the field, which put him in an ideal position to keep his win streak going for another week.

Love was admittedly surprised when he saw Sawalich so close in his rearview mirror in the closing stages despite getting briefly held up by the slower car of Jon Garrett. He believed his car was still strong enough to hold the lead, but felt he did not get a fair chance with Sawalich moving him.
Although he heard Sawalich’s apology in Victory Lane, Love does not intend to forget his maneuver any time soon.

Love’s frustration with Sawalich and Joe Gibbs Racing stems from a similar incident in last year’s ARCA finale at Toledo Speedway. While battling Grant Enfinger for the race lead, Love was moved by Sammy Smith in the No. 18 for the win, which prompted a heated reaction from Love after the race.
With his win streak now over, Love plans to regroup with his Venturini Motorsports team ahead of a quick turnaround for next week’s event at Elko Speedway.

While Love was left frustrated over how the ARCA 200 at Berlin ended, Sawalich cherished his third overall victory on the ARCA platform in 2023 after previously earning two ARCA Menards Series East triumphs at Five Flags Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway.
Despite the elation over his victory, Sawalich is already turning his attention towards next weekend’s race at Elko Speedway, where he knows Love will be eager to avenge his defeat from Saturday evening.

Love held on for second behind Sawalich, with Sean Hingorani, Andres Perez de Lara and Toni Breidinger rounding out the top-five finishers.

The ARCA Menards Series will be back in action next Saturday at Elko Speedway for the running of the Menards 250, which will go green at 9 p.m. ET. FS2 will have live coverage, with the race also being streamed live on FloRacing.

Complete Results: https://www.arcaracing.com/2023/06/17...

ARCA Menards Series Point Standings (After 6 of 20 races):
1. Jesse Love 288 pts
2. Frankie Muniz (-20)
3. Andres Perez de Lara (-39)
4. Christian Rose (-48)
5. Tony Cosentino (-49)
6. Toni Breidinger (-59)
7. Jack Wood (-74)
8. Jon Garrett (-83)
9. Greg Van Alst (-89)
10. AJ Moyer (-105)