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Ryan Unzicker parks Hendren Motorsports in victory lane at DuQuoin

Ryan Unzicker put an emotional exclamation point on his tenure with Hendren Motorsports on Monday afternoon. With the 2022 season marking the final campaign before team owner Bill Hendren’s retirement, Unzicker piloted the team’s No. 24 Chevrolet to the ARCA Menards victory at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

“It [means] a lot. We’ve been doing it for a long time,” an elated Unzicker said in his post-race interview. “I hate to say it would be my last [ARCA race], but [Hendren] has given me every confidence in the world to come out here and allow me to drive his car. Just means the world to me to be able to end on a good note for his sake as well as the whole Hendren Motorsports team.”

Behind the wheel of the Hendren Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet on Monday for the Rust-Oleum Automotive Finishes 100, Unzicker wheeled from the 21st-starting position to pick up the victory in his final start aboard the Bill Hendren-owned entry in ARCA Menards competition.

With looming weather eliminating prelims and setting the grid for the main event via owner points, Ryan was up to third by the fourth circuit when the first yellow of the race was displayed. He went onto win by more than a four-second margin over Jesse Love in the rain-shortened 78-lap affair, claiming his fifth win of the 2022 campaign.

A few days prior on Thursday evening Ryan Unzicker got a jump on his holiday weekend of racing with a visit to Macon (Ill.) Speedway to pilot his RJR Transportation / Brucker Farms No. 24 Mosquito Hero / MB Customs / Pro Power Racing Engine Super Late Model in the 2022 edition of the Herald & Review 100.

With 23 Late Models on the grounds for the DIRTcar Summer Nationals event rescheduled from July 7, Ryan secured his spot into the $5,000-to-win A-Main with a second-place finish in his heat race.

Starting the 100-lap finale in fourth, Unzicker was running third when another car spun in front of him, leaving him nowhere to go. He limped to the infield pit area on lap 10 with a destroyed radiator.

Joining the MARS Racing Series on Friday at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, Unzicker’s runner-up finish in his heat race positioned him on the fourth row for the A-Main. With $10,000 on the line, Ryan gained two spots 40-lapper to finish sixth.

Meanwhile, for the $10,000-to-win FALS Super Nationals on Saturday at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway, Ryan followed up a seventh-to-third run in his heat with a 12th-to-third showing in the 50-lap feature. He trailed Bobby Pierce and Shannon Babb across the line with Brian Shirley and Jason Feger completing the Top-5 finishers.

After Mother Nature postponed Sunday’s ARCA Menard Series event at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Speedway (DuQuoin, Ill.) to Monday, Unzicker returned to competition on Sunday evening with the MARS Racing Series at Spoon River Speedway (Banner, Ill.) for the Plowboy Nationals. Starting the feature in third via a runner-up finish in his heat, Ryan advanced one spot to register a runner-up finish.

Full results from the weekend are available at www.MaconRacing.com, www.MARSRacingSeries.com, and www.ARCAracing.com.

The next event currently on the calendar for Unzicker is a trip to Fairbury Speedway on September 13 for the third annual One for the Road presented by I-Beam Sliding Doors. The Castrol FloRacing Night in America event posts a $22,022 top prize.

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