Treece Goes Back-to-Back With Darlington Victory

DARLINGTON, S.C. — One week after announcing his arrival with a dominant victory at Dover Motor Speedway, Izaak Treece proved his debut was no fluke.

This time, he had to earn it the Darlington way.

Treece overcame early damage, navigated varying tire strategies and eventually separated himself from the field Sunday night to capture his second consecutive MLSR A-Open Series victory. The win made Treece the first repeat winner of the season after seven different drivers had won the opening seven races.

It also came in Treece's first race since joining Ideal Racing, adding another layer to what has quickly become one of the most intriguing stories in the A-Open garage.

Only a week earlier, Treece made his series debut at Dover, won the pole, led 174 of 200 laps and took the victory. His performance caught the attention of Ideal Racing, and by the time the series arrived at Darlington, Treece had joined the organization. The broadcast described Dover as essentially an audition that earned him the invitation.

His encore couldn't have started much differently.

Jamel Love started from the pole at Darlington, with Dallas Manus alongside him. Shawn Hook rolled off third, while Treece began fourth. Jim Treat started seventh, Christian Barnes eighth and Zack Domer ninth.

Treece found trouble early.

Rather than controlling the race from the opening laps as he had at Dover, the No. 6 was caught in an accident following a restart. Treece later said the incident forced him to repair damage and regroup.

From that point forward, patience became as important as outright speed.

“Just smooth inputs throughout the race,” Treece said afterward. “Just trying to save tires as much as possible, stay out of the dirty air.”

It worked.

Darlington quickly became a strategy race as cautions gave teams opportunities to choose between track position and fresh rubber. During one early yellow, much of the field came to pit road, but not everyone took tires. Several competitors elected for fuel only, preserving a set of tires with the expectation that another caution could create a more valuable opportunity later.

Those decisions created wildly different levels of grip throughout the field.

Hook took the aggressive approach, repeatedly attacking for position. Treece was noticeably more calculated. The broadcast characterized Hook as frantic and willing to go after nearly every opening while Treece remained conservative, waiting for the race to develop.

That patience eventually paid off.

Around the midpoint, the differences in tire strategy became obvious. On a restart, cars on older tires struggled to hold position while those with fresher rubber began working forward. Treece used the outside lane to move into the lead as the field shuffled behind him.

From there, the race increasingly tilted toward the No. 6.

Love remained a factor, as did Treat. Hook had shown tremendous pace earlier in the race, while Barnes and Domer continued working through their own strategies. But as the race settled into its longest green-flag stretches, Treece's combination of pace and tire conservation became difficult to match.

The final round of green-flag pit stops effectively sealed the race.

Treat, who spent much of the closing portion battling Love, said afterward that Treece's pit strategy and execution created a gap they likely needed a caution to erase.

“We kind of needed a caution there at the end, I think, for us to have a shot at Izaak,” Treat said. “He had a pretty good pit strategy there. Quicker in the pits than we were.”

That caution never came.

Treece steadily drove away, ultimately leading 80 of the 150 laps and taking the checkered flag 9.211 seconds ahead of Treat. Treece also recorded the race's fastest lap at 28.651 seconds, completing a sweep of the night's most important statistics.

Behind him, however, second place remained unsettled until virtually the final corner.

Love held the position as Treat closed during the final laps. Approaching the white flag, Treat finally worked past him. Love then lost control while trying to respond, looping the car without hitting the wall. He recovered quickly enough to preserve third place, but the mistake ended the fight for second.

Treat's runner-up finish was his first podium and first top-five result of the season, while Love completed the podium after leading 40 laps. Christian Barnes finished fourth, with Zack Domer fifth. Jacob Loesch was sixth and the final driver to complete all 150 laps.

Further back, Ronald Breland produced one of the night's biggest climbs, charging from 26th to eighth, while Michael Patrick went from 28th to 12th and Brad Harris advanced from 25th to 13th.

But Darlington belonged to Treece.

Seven races into the season, the A-Open Series had produced seven winners. Then Treece arrived.

He won Dover in his debut.

He joined Ideal Racing.

And one week later, after getting caught in trouble early at one of the most unforgiving tracks on the schedule, he won again.

“Fortunately it worked out,” Treece said, “and I ended up going back-to-back.”

Two starts. Two victories.

The A-Open Series finally has its first repeat winner — and suddenly, Izaak Treece has become one of the biggest stories of the season