ARCA / ARCA WEST: Bobby Dale Earnhardt ruled apparent last-place finisher after opening-lap crash at Phoenix
by Ben Schneider / LASTCAR.info Staff Writer
PHOTO: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles
Bobby Dale Earnhardt finished last for the first time in his ARCA Menards Series career in last Thursday’s General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway when his No. 89 SmartGrid Integrations Chevrolet fell out with crash damage on the opening lap.
The finish came in Earnhardt’s seventh career ARCA national start and his ARCA Menards Series West debut.
A fourth-generation member of one of NASCAR’s most famous families, Earnhardt is the great-grandson of Ralph, grandson of Dale, son of Kerry, nephew of Dale Jr., and older brother of Jeffrey. His ARCA debut came in 2017, running two races for Hixson Motorsports and one for Brian Kaltreider Racing with a best finish of 19th at Elko. He has also competed in the now-O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for MBM Motorsports, scoring a career-best of 27th at Kansas over seven starts from 2017 to 2019.
Last year, Earnhardt returned to the ARCA Menards Series, running two races in Rise Motorsports’ No. 31 Toyota. Both of his starts ended early due to accidents, leaving him 30th at Bristol and 26th at Kansas. This year started on a much stronger note, picking up a ninth-place finish at Daytona in the team’s renumbered No. 89 Chevrolet.
On Thursday, Earnhardt was one of several drivers involved in an opening-lap accident when Bobby Hillis Jr. spun entering Turn 3. Brad Smith t-boned the side of Hillis’ car, while Earnhardt collided with Nate Moeller and hit the outside wall. The damage took Earnhardt, Smith, and Hillis out of the race immediately. Moeller soldiered on to complete six laps, while Zachary Tinkle rounded out the Bottom Five, completing 14 laps before retiring from the race with crash damage of his own.
Earnhardt and Nate Moeller, driving Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin throwback schemes respectively, stopped on track shortly after the accident (SCREENSHOT: FS1)
After the race, a discrepancy appeared in the online race results. ARCA’s official website listed Earnhardt in 39th place with the bottom three finishers all completing zero laps. However, Racing-Reference listed Earnhardt in 37th place, as did the FS1 broadcast’s leaderboard, while also crediting each of the three drivers from 37th to 39th with one lap completed. The Third Turn initially matched these two results sheets before it was updated to reflect the ARCA website’s results. While we continue to seek clarity on the issue, for the time being, we at LASTCAR.info will not dispute the official results sheet delivered to the teams by the sanctioning body.
A full field of 40 cars appeared on the entry list, though only 39 took the green flag. Jeff Maconi had intended on running the Clubb Racing Inc. No. 86, but due to an electrical issue in practice, was unable to start the event. Maconi revealed on X/Twitter that his crew “tried up until about Lap 140 to get the car to fire but no luck.” Takuma Koga and Hillis also did not record a lap time, leaving Moeller to anchor the 37 cars that turned a qualifying lap with a time of 33.157 seconds.
At the front of the field, Pinnacle Racing Group teammates Carson Brown and Tristan McKee dominated the evening, converting their front row starts into a 1-2 finish. Brown led all 157 laps to score the win in his ARCA national debut and only his third-ever ARCA-sanctioned start.
DID NOT START
40) #86-Jeff Maconi
THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #89-Bobby Dale Earnhardt / 0 laps / accident
38) #48-Brad Smith / 0 laps / accident
37) #06-Bobby Hillis Jr. / 0 laps / accident
36) #9-Nate Moeller / 6 laps / accident
35) #19-Zachary Tinkle / 14 laps / accident
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 2 of 20)
1st) Ryan Huff Motorsports, Rise Racing with Earnhardt-Shearer Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 2 of 20)
1st) Ford, Chevrolet (1)
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE throughout the 2026 ARCA season to view the full drivers’ standings for both the ARCA Menards Series and its East and West divisions. You can also find the manufacturers’ and owners’ standings for all three series HERE.
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 2 of 20)
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 2 of 13)
1st) Strike Mamba Racing, Rise Racing with Earnhardt-Shearer Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 2 of 13)
1st) Chevrolet (2)
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 2 of 13)
