Lanie Buice continued her impressive rise in the ARCA Menards Series with a landmark performance at Chicagoland Speedway. Driving the No. 77 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet, Buice battled near the front throughout the event before finishing second, behind race winner and teammate Connor Mosack. 

Buice's finish also tied the ARCA Menards Series record for best finish by a female competitor. Before her, Isabella Robusto, Hailie Deegan, Erin Crocker and Shawna Robinson are the female drivers who finished runner-up in the series.

Speaking after the race, Buice credited the entire Pinnacle Racing Group organization for giving her a competitive car, as the team enjoyed a 1-2 finish.

“It’s such a blessing to be able to work with the Pinnacle Racing Group,” Buice said, as reported by FOX. “My No. 77 group is just incredible, and Kevin Reed Jr. always brings a fast car to the race track."

She also explained the situation when her cooling suit failed midway during the race.  

“It's a little bit warm, but honestly, when you're up to speed like that, you don't really feel it as much. Just when that caution comes out, you start to feel a little more. But no, we dealt with it, and yeah, that's probably (why I) look a little bit like a tomato head, but that's okay, right? But a lot of work in this weekend, and yeah, it shows today,” she added.

The 19-year-old driver’s performance earned her widespread praise from fans and members of the racing community on X, after securing one of the best finishes of her young stock car career. 

One user felt that her victory in the series is now inevitable, and said, “No doubt a victory will happen soon in ARCA. Car colors and sponsor... awesome. Reminded me of M Donohue Can Am and Trans Am Sunoco schemes. Running in Trans Am is a skill that will translate well into ARCA and NASCAR. IMO.”

Another user added, “It’s insane how fast they’ve closed the gap to the 28 and 18; she’ll get a win this year.” They were then reminded by another commenter that No. 28 is Buice’s teammate, Mosack. 

One user called for more inclusion of women in motorsports, saying, “Lanie Buice, Jade Avedesian have a good chances of real success. Racing in general needs more Lyn St. James out there....not pretenders.”

A user also joked about the effect of the weather and her cool suit failure, saying, “Someone git the poor girl an air conditioner for her head.”

While the next race takes place at Lime Rock Park, Buice will now return to action at the Kansas Speedway in September, where she will look to grab that eventual win that has been eluding her for a while. 

Speaking of Lime Rock Park, a fresh new face is set to be seen there in the Truck Series. 

Louis Foster to make NASCAR debut at Lime Rock Park

A few days ago, Freedom Racing Enterprises confirmed via a tweet from Jayski that the 22-year-old Louis Foster will compete in the LiUNA 150 at Lime Rock Park on July 11, his first-ever NASCAR national series race.

Foster will drive the No. 76 Chevrolet Silverado for Freedom Racing Enterprises, with Droplight serving as the primary sponsor.

Currently driving full-time for RLL (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) in IndyCar, Foster won the IndyCar Rookie of the Year award in his debut season for the team. He also won the Indy Pro 2000 championship in 2022, which was then followed by the Indy NXT title in 2024. 

The son of former British Touring Car Championship driver Nick Foster, Louis is a second-generation racer. While this will be his debut race in NASCAR, he has won pole position at Road America and a career-best P7 finish at Phoenix in his IndyCar career so far. 

Read more at Daytona Racing Digest

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason