Austin Green conquers Charlotte to earn his first ARCA Menards Series victory in just his second start
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CONCORD, N.C.—Austin Green was not even born when his father David, the 1994 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, claimed his lone ARCA Menards Series victory at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in what turned out to be his lone start on the platform.
More than three decades later, Austin joined David as an ARCA Menards Series winner by putting together a dominant performance in the General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. With the triumph, Austin and David became the ninth father-son duo to visit Victory Lane in the ARCA Menards Series.
Austin was tasked with fending off an equally strong car in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota piloted by William Sawalich. By working the clean air to his advantage and leaning on his spotter, Austin pulled away to triumph in only his second national ARCA Menards Series appearance.
“Everyone at [Pinnacle Racing Group] built a rocket,” Austin said. “Hearing the gap and seeing [Sawalich] fall back was always a good feeling. They told me to slow down a little bit at the end. That was hard to do but hats off to everyone at PRG.”
The Green family has enjoyed plenty of success at Charlotte Motor Speedway during their time in NASCAR. Although David never won at Charlotte, Austin’s uncle Jeff prevailed at the facility twice in the Xfinity Series in 2001 and 2002, respectively.
Austin’s only experience at Charlotte prior to Friday’s General Tire 150 came on the complex’s short oval and Roval configuration. Along with making several Legends starts on both, Austin also had the chance to run an Xfinity Series race on the layout last year, when he placed 30th after losing an engine with 15 laps remaining.
Having developed a comfort zone on road courses through competing in the Trans Am Championship TA2 class, adjusting to larger ovals has been a learning curve for Austin. All four of Austin’s oval Xfinity Series starts saw him place outside the top 25. He also finished six laps down in the ARCA Menards Series East at Rockingham Speedway due to a mechanical issue.
Despite this, Austin’s familiarity with Charlotte’s other layouts gave him some optimism as he prepared for his first attempt on the big track. The consistency associated with PRG’s ARCA Menards Series program also boosted Austin’s confidence, as they already possessed two victories in 2025 with Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen.
Austin quickly adapted to his new environment and maintained track position inside the top five before cycling to the lead after a couple of restarts. Once he got out in front, Austin proceeded to dump dirty air on Sawalich’s car, which had sustained significant damage on his nose after hitting Cleetus McFarland during a restart.
Being able to disrupt Sawalich’s momentum simply by taking away his clean air is an aspect about stock cars Austin is still comprehending. He attributed aerodynamics to his struggles on oval tracks in the Xfinity Series but felt satisfied being in a position where he could manipulate other cars around him.
“The biggest thing for me with these big tracks is the aero,” Austin said. “Growing up on short tracks, you didn’t really have any of that, especially on road courses as well. That’s been the biggest hurdle for me this year. I’m slowly figuring it out and it was strategic to pack dirty air on those behind you and side draft. I had a blast.”
Austin had long pulled away from the field when Grant Enfinger found enough speed in the top groove to move into the second position. Driving in relief of Jason Kitzmiller, who was attending his daughter’s graduation ceremony, Enfinger delivered a strong outing for CR7 Motorsports in his 100th career ARCA Menards Series start.
The 2015 series champion enjoyed the opportunity to return to his roots and contend for a victory on Friday evening. Enfinger was pleased with the speed of his No. 97 but felt his car needed to be looser to mount a challenge on Austin.
“We started in practice a little bit off and the [CR7 Motorsports] guys did a phenomenal job getting it on for the race. I felt like we had a contending car from the drop of the green flag, but not the best car. There were certain stints where I felt we had good speed, but then we got a little too tight.
“Overall, it was fun racing with these guys.”
Used to celebrating plenty of accomplishments in the ARCA Menards Series, Enfinger and the rest of the field at Charlotte were only witnesses to Austin’s first checkered flag so early into his career on the platform.
The other father-son ARCA Menards Series winners Austin and David join include Bobby and Davey Allison, Jack and Bobby Bowsher, Jerry and Randy Churchill, Bob and Brian Keselowski, Bill and Frank Kimmel, Scott and Scott Lagasse Jr., Tracy and Billy Leslie, Kyle and Adam Petty, along with Billy and Billy Venturini.
Celebrating with David in Victory Lane only made Austin’s maiden win even more sentimental. It took plenty of patience and diligence for Austin to make it to Victory Lane in a major stock-car race, but he is thrilled to continue a proud racing legacy started by David and his uncles Jeff and Mark.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Austin said. “I never really got to see dad race, because I wasn’t born yet. Being around [racing] growing up, it’s what I love to do. Obviously, it’s a dream of mine and hopefully we can keep progressing.”
Lavar Scott came away from Charlotte with a third-place finish, allowing him to capitalize on a solid points day that saw Queen and Lawless Alan both get hindered by separate issues. Sawalich and Andy Jankowiak completed the top five.
Andrew Patterson and his small team earned a sixth-place showing as the last car on the lead lap. The rest of the top 10 comprised of Thad Moffitt, Patrick Staropoli, McFarland and Lanie Buice.
Next up for the ARCA Menards Series is the two-mile paved oval of Michigan International Speedway on June 6. The green flag for the Henry Ford Health 200 waves at 6 p.m. ET that evening, with FS2 providing live flag-to-flag coverage.
RACE RESULTS
Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 82 Austin Green Overplay Games Chevrolet 100 –
2 97 Grant Enfinger A.L.L. Construction Chevrolet 100 2.569
3 6 Lavar Scott Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet 100 3.03
4 18 William Sawalich Starkey Toyota 100 5.177
5 73 Andy Jankowiak Klas Motorsports Toyota 100 10.577
6 40 Andrew Patterson* WinSupply Chevrolet 100 26.652
7 46 Thad Moffitt Leer Toyota 99 1 Lap
8 25 Patrick Staropoli Syfovre Toyota 99 1 Lap
9 30 Garrett Mitchell* Kenetik Ford 99 1 Lap
10 2 Lanie Buice* Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet 99 1 Lap
11 10 Tony Cosentino Freedom Pool Serice Toyota 99 1 Lap
12 7 Jeff Scofield* Husqvarna/JXT Transportation Chevrolet 99 1 Lap
13 20 Lawless Alan VMS Toyota 99 1 Lap
14 28 Brenden Queen * Folsom Fence Supply Chevrolet 98 2 Laps
15 36 Ryan Huff Commonwealth Equipment Ford 96 4 Laps
16 57 Bryan Dauzat OB Builders Inc Chevrolet 93 7 Laps
17 99 Michael Maples Don Ray Petroleum/Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 93 7 Laps
18 31 Rick Goodale* risemotorsports.com Toyota 91 9 Laps
19 3 Alex Clubb Race Parts Liquidators Ford 90 10 Laps
20 6 Brayton Laster PeerlessPump.com/GEARS Racing League Toyota 85 15 Laps
21 76 Kole Raz* Cyclum Nextgen Travel Centers Ford 71 29 Laps
22 27 Tim Richmond Latino Immigration & Legal Center Toyota 70 30 Laps
23 86 Casey Carden* CRI Ford 40 60 Laps
24 55 Isabella Robusto * Mobil 1 Toyota 38 62 Laps
25 23 Spencer Gallagher Allegiant/Sigma Performance Chevrolet 37 63 Laps
26 67 Ryan Roulette VFW Ford 36 64 Laps
27 48 Brad Smith Gary’s Speed Shop Ford 16 84 Laps
28 69 Will Kimmel Kimmel Racing Ford 13 87 Laps
29 12 Matt Kemp ELHDetailing.com Ford 12 88 Laps
30 11 Mike Basham Double H Ranch/Fast Track Racing Ford 10 90 Laps
31 9 Nate Moeller Fast Track Racing Toyota 1 99 Laps
DNS 79 Jason Kitzmiller A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet DNS
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