Max McLaughlin earned a season-best finish on Friday afternoon at Dover International Speedway with a fourth-place result in the General Tire 125. McLaughlin also delivered his best finish at “The Monster Mile” and has now posted four straight results of seventh or better with the ARCA Menards Series.
“Mad Max” set the sixth-quickest lap in qualifying practice earlier in the day and challenged for position inside the top five from the outset. The Mooresville, NC native held the sixth position until the lap 31 competition caution despite a loose handling condition and came to pit road for his first round of adjustments. Crew chief Dave McCarty and the No. 1 Toyota Racing Development team gave McLaughlin four tires and a left rear spring rubber change to improve the drivability for the second green flag run.
The driver of the No. 1 Toyota Camry held serve in the sixth position during the 37-lap run to the second competition caution on lap 71. McLaughlin received his second set of tires under the yellow flag and lined up sixth for the lap 74 restart. Close quarters racing for the fifth position resulted in McLaughlin losing momentum and briefly fell back to eighth, but a caution flag on lap 109 allowed him a chance at redemption. McLaughlin restarted sixth on lap 114, 12 laps shy of the finish, and took full advantage of the outside lane. “Mad Max” kept his No. 1 Toyota Racing Development Toyota Camry wound up on the outside of the speedway to claim the fourth position with nine laps remaining, and secured it for the duration of the race to post his best finish thus far of his 2020 campaign.
Max McLaughlin Quote:“We struggled a little bit at the beginning, a little loose, but the guys made great adjustments. Dave McCarty calling the shots and all the guys on this Hattori Racing team did a great job getting the car better and better every time and ended up fourth. It’s a great day. We’re getting better every time. Hopefully we can continue that next weekend at Gateway.”
HRE PR
