“They done Davey Allison’d your a**”: Fans react as Connor Mosack stakes his claim at ARCA win after penalty

Despite crossing the finish line first in Friday's ARCA Menards Series race, Pinnacle Racing Group's Connor Mosack lost his triumph to fellow racer William Sawalich as a result of a late-race penalty. Fans reacted to that, with some of them critiquing the decision.

Mosack and Brent Crews started from the front row following the final restart. Mosack cleared the Venturini Motorsports driver and held the lead till the finishing line with William Sawalich and Crews tailing him in second and third, respectively.

However, the ARCA Menards officials declared that Mosack had jumped the previous restart while passing Crews. According to the rules, the leader (Crews) should be the first one crossing the restart line.

ARCA Menards Series posted a replay of the final restart and said,

"With @connormosack penalized for jumping the restart, it's @WilliamSawalich who receives the checkered flag at @Mid_Ohio to win the Zinsser SmartCoat 150!"

Nevertheless, Mosack reposted the video saying,

"We crossed the line first ☝️"

Interestingly, something similar happened way back in 1991. NASCAR legend Davey Allison was awarded Ricky Rudd's win at Sonoma Raceway. With just a lap to go in the 300-lap event, Rudd spun Allison's number 28 Ford. As a result, Rudd, the pole sitter, was given the black flag, while Allison took home the checkered.

Fans reacted to it with one of them recalling the Davey Allison incident, saying,

"They done Davey Allison'd your ass!"

Another fan hailed the NASCAR Truck Series driver as the winner, and commented,

"Connor Mosack WON THIS RACE."

Here are a few other comments on the replay:

"Agreed. ARCA just needed their favorite Toyota to win," said a fan.

"You’re the winner to me, great race!!💪🏻" another said.

"You definitely did, bs call. You and the team did a fantastic job. Hell of a drive, congratulations to you," someone wrote.

While another commented, "You Won. Sawalich was playing games in the restarts."

Following the assessment, Mosack could have either committed to the pit road and competed for the win on the last lap or he could have continued running the race and received the penalty. Mosack chose to stay on the track and unfortunately, he was relegated to a 13th-place finish.

Connor Mosack might have helped William Sawalich win the Zinsser SmartCoat 150

Connor Mosack and William Sawalich made a contact coming off of turn 6. As a result, Sawalich lost a significant number of spots. Nevertheless, he charged the race leaders as fast as he could.

Soon, Sawalich saw his window of opportunity when Mosack dive-bombed Brent Crews out of the groove. Thomas Annunziata grabbed the lead, but not for long. Mosack moved him off the track in turn 4.

“I moved him because he ran me over a couple times earlier in the race, then got me penalized, then drove me off Turn 2 on the restart,” Mosack told The Sportsnaut, recalling his encounter with Annunziata.

After that, Connor Mosack tried everything to seize the win, but it all went in vain as the officials sacked his win and gave it to Sawalich, who finished the race second.

Sawalich was not expecting to win this way. He was battling fellow Toyota racer Gio Ruggiero when Connor Mosack's jumped restart was being assessed. Reflecting on the same, he said,

"I really wished I could have battled it out with (Ruggiero) there. I missed a shift on the backstretch which is why it looked like I brake-checked him. Then I hit the wall during the burnout. I’ve never done that before, so that’s a first."

Next on ARCA's schedule is Berlin Raceway. The 200-lap event, which is expected to take place on June 29, Sunday, will stream live on FloRacing.