The first trip out west of 2026 for the KLAS Motorsports team was a heartbreaker. The team
fielded the #71 entry for Andy Jankowiak in the General Tire 150 ARCA Menards Series race at
Phoenix International Raceway (AZ) on Thursday and were in a strong position to post their
best finish ever until a part failure out of their control left them fighting to just make it to the
finish.
KLAS Motorsports brought a new car in their stable to Phoenix and had worked hard in the
weeks leading up to the event to fine tune it. Their efforts were rewarded in the first practice
session when Jankowiak was able to post the sixth best lap of 40 entries. He backed that up
with a sixth-place qualifying lap.
The race started out even better. Jankowiak conserved his car and maintained his track position
early on. Then he really got going in the middle stages of the race. After a spirited battle with
Nitro Motorsports driver Thomas Annunziata, Jankowiak placed the #71 solidly in the third
position.
Then the #71 car suddenly shut down. The culprit was a rare battery failure, likely due to an
internal short.
The #71 team still did not give up. They changed the battery and only lost three laps, but this
put Jankowiak outside the top twenty. He was able to advance as much as possible in the late
stages of the race and finished 18 th .
“I am super proud of my KLAS Motorsports team,” said Jankowiak. “They brought a winning car
to this one and we had things rolling. I’m just so proud to be the guy behind the wheel. We will
shake this off and go on. I felt like we had a real shot and I’m pumped up for the rest of the
year.”
Whelen Engineering and Phillips 66 Lubricants were the primary sponsors for the #71 at
Phoenix.
Additional partners for the #71 at Phoenix included Dak’s Markets, Acacia Energy, Automotive
Consultants of Ithaca, Florida Safety Systems, Yukon Creek, Military Basketball League and
Schultz Engineered Products.
The ARCA Menards Series will next visit Kansas Speedway on Saturday, April 18 th . That event
will be televised live on the Fox Sports 1 television network starting at 12:30pm ET.