Riley Spurlytube picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Lucas Oil ARCA Racing Series career in the Season 1 Governor's Cup 200 at the Milwaukee Mile when his #15 RaceHard.com / Accelerade Toyota fell out with header problems after completing 19 of the 40 laps.
The finish came in his 16th career start.
Spurlytube, like every driver else in the field, was making their first attempt in the brand new ARCA series, and driving for legendary team owner Bill Venturini, Spurlytube had a lot of pressure on him, but a 18th place finish in his debut at Daytona looked take the pressure off because in just his second career start, Spurlytube would drive to victory in the next round at Atlanta and was awarded not only the trophy, but the famous "Big Bill Kiss" in victory lane from his owner to celebrate his first ever win for the team. However, after a great start to the season, Spurlytube would begin to struggle as a 26th at Charlotte would be followed by a 24th at Talladega, and while a 12th at Gateway would look to give the team some momentum, the string of bad finishes would continue with a 25th at Kentucky and a 38th at Pocono. A 14th at Michigan would be a brief sigh of relief but a 26th place finish in back-to-back races at Texas and the twisting road course in New Jersey, would be followed by a 18th at Iowa. A 35th place finish at Chicagoland would be followed by a 16th at ORP, a 31st at the second Pocono event and in the last round at Nashville, Spurlytube came just one lap short of trailing the field for the first time if it wasn't for Tayon Kennedy's crash on the backstretch.
On race day, Spurlytube rolled off starting in 29th while starting in the final spot was the #12 The Cove / Dolphins Awareness Dodge of Kelly Lee as for the first time in series history, drivers raced at the oldest track on the ARCA schedule, the famous Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin. The 41 drivers would show respect and give each other room during the 40 lap event with surprisingly no cautions flying for any spins or wrecks. By the time the race had reached halfway, Spurlytube hadn't made much progress and just one lap shy of the halfway mark, Spurlytube's car had broken a header, as he would pull onto pit road and behind the wall, and while the car was looked over by his Venturini Motorsports team, the car was officially listed as "out" by the 23rd lap, the lone car to drop out of the race.
The remaining Bottom Five would all finish on the same lap as the race leaders: 40th was the #54 Costy's Energy Services Dodge of Benoit Lothaire-Irvine, 39th was the #2 ModSpace / Hixson-Belmont Ford of Jonathan Raines, 38th was Chicagoland last-place finisher the #48 Radon.com Ford of Truttle and 37th was the aforementioned #12 of Kelly Lee.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #15 had finished last in a ARCA Series race as well as at Milwaukee Mile.
*This was the first time the #15 had finished last in a ARCA Series race as well as at Milwaukee Mile.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
41) #15-Riley Spurlytube / 19 laps / header
40) #54-Benoit Lothaire-Irvine / 40 laps / running
39) #2-Jonathan Raines / 40 laps / running
38) #48-Truttle / 40 laps / running
37) #12-Kelly Lee / 40 laps / running
41) #15-Riley Spurlytube / 19 laps / header
40) #54-Benoit Lothaire-Irvine / 40 laps / running
39) #2-Jonathan Raines / 40 laps / running
38) #48-Truttle / 40 laps / running
37) #12-Kelly Lee / 40 laps / running
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