In the early morning hours of Wednesday, the David Gilliland Racing hauler carrying ARCA Menards Series driver Taylor Gray’s car was involved in an accident that took the life of hauler driver Steven Stotts and put two others in the hospital. At the time it was not known whether Gray would even be able to race in the at Phoenix Raceway on Friday night.
Not only did Taylor Gray make the race, he started on the front row in the outside pole position. He took the lead in a three car battle after the drop of the green flag.
In a two lap shootout for the win, Taylor Gray gets out in front for the lead and the win after a four wide battle for his first career ARCA Series win. He led 76 of the 150 lap race.
With the help of Hailie Deegan’s team, Gray’s car arrived at Phoenix Raceway. Painted all black with no sponsors the car featured only the number 17 and the names of the crew members involved in the crash.
Gray noted that he was still very upset about the whole situation; adding, “it’s hard for me to fully enjoy the win.” He continued, “Steven, John and Michael, this win’s for them, not for anybody else. They went through a horrific thing that not a lot of people go through at all.”
ARCA Menards Series Phoenix Race Results:
Taylor Gray
Daniel Dye
Sammy Smith
Rajah Caruth
Jake Drew
Jesse Love
Nick Sanchez
Josh Berry
Derek Kraus
Connor Mosack
Cole Moore
Todd Souza
Joey Iest
Austin Herzog
Toni Breidinger
Tanner Reif
Paul Pedroncelli Jr
Takuma Koga
Tim Spurgeon
Parker Chase
Alex Chubb
Ryan Roulette
Bidget Burgess
DL Wilson
Sebastian Arias
Bobby Hills Jr
Christian Rose
Bryce Haugeberg
Zachary Tinkle
Amber Balcaen
Chris Lowden
Kyle Keller
Time Monroe
Brad Smith
Andrew Tuttle
Greg Van Alst
Brian Kaltreider
Paul Pedroncelli
Eric Rhead
feature photo credit: ARCARacing.com, Facebook