Thomas Annunziata scored the pole for the ARCA Menards Series race at Lime Rock Park. In turn 1 of the opening lap, Lawless Alan tried to take the lead. Instead, he made contact with Annunziata, who also collected Brent Crews as both front-row starters spun out. Annunziata persevered through the incident, driving all the way up to first place to win the race on Saturday, June 28.

Annunziata earned his first career victory in his fifth career start. He gave Nitro Motorsports its second win of the season in his first start of 2025, too.

“No, it means a lot, especially what happened in the Truck race,” Annunziata told FOX Sports post-race. “We had a great run going, and then we got taken out in the end. Got taken out in the beginning of this race, too. In my head, I wasn’t very cool, and they helped me stay calm. But oh my gosh. I can’t thank Toyota and Nitro Motorsports, Venturini enough for taking this chance on me. I mean, this is my first time in real winning equipment, and I get to showcase my talent. And, oh, that was so good. There was no better way to win that than to go back to last and have to make a comeback. My family’s here watching, so shoutout to them. I’m super excited for them to see me do this.”

Alon Day finished second in his first career ARCA start. Day led the field when the competition caution came out, but he missed the entrance to pit road and therefore had to restart at the tail end of the field.

“Need better English, I guess,” Day said about the miscommunication that led to him missing pit road. “So, what can I say? I felt I had that victory in my hand. I really wanted that victory but I’m so sorry for everybody. I mean, I did all I can. Was a hard journey, I thought I’m going to get a win but anyway, the JSSI car was so quick. I’m so thankful for the opportunity they gave me to be here on American soil and race here. Love racing in America. And yeah, what can I say; the Venturini guys did amazing job. I feel so sorry for them. But at least I showed I have the speed to hold the lead and have the speed also to pass some people. Onto the next one, Sonoma.”

Alan finished third, one spot ahead of points leader Brenden Queen. Ryan Gemmell, making his first start of the season for NEMCO Motorsports, rounded out the top five in fifth.

Like Annunziata, Crews drove back through the field and was on the front row for the final restart. However, as the green flag flew, he beat leader Annunziata to the restart line. As a result, he was penalized for jumping the restart, received a pass-through penalty, and wound up sixth.

“I just want to say I want to give the Lord thanks for keeping me safe out there today,” Crews said post-race. “There was a lot that happened, and this Joe Gibbs Racing crew did an amazing job all day. Grateful to be in this position and, you know, keep getting shots at wins.

“Obviously, a little bit of a mistake on my part. Also kind of sucks when there’s just a line that you go off of. The leader was playing games all day and just slammed on the brakes and, you know, I pretty much did all I could, dragging the brake, but he was already behind me. So, yeah, I just got to put that in my memory bank and, you know, just do a better job anticipating that for next time, but we, obviously, had the winning car today and I feel like the winning driver for most of it. This Mobil 1 Toyota Camry was fabulous all day and was just happy to have a shot at the win.”

Lavar Scott, Jeff Anton, Dale Quarterley and Isabella Robusto completed the top 10 in seventh through 10th, respectively.

The inaugural ARCA race at Lime Rock was quite eventful, featuring the most lead changes on a road course since the series went to Palm Beach International Raceway in 2010.

The first lead change happened on the aforementioned opening lap.

While the race stayed green during that moment, the second caution was a scary one. Ed Pompa was spun in the last corner before the start/finish line, and he sat on track. Jason Kitzmiller came out of the corner, spun his No. 97 Chevrolet to try to minimize the damage, and yet they both were wrecked out of the race – Kitzmiller in 19th and Pompa in 20th.

Day led the field until the competition caution when he incurred the penalty. Following the restart, Queen led one lap before Annunziata regained it. He led the final 32 laps en route to a 4.139-second margin of victory to cap off the racing doubleheader, with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, at the road course.