Jake Finch has turned more laps at Montgomery Motor Speedway than anywhere else in his career and finally won the big one with a victory in the Alabama 200 on Saturday night for Ronnie Sanders Racing.
This is the same combination that won the Show Me the Money track championship in the Alabama state capital back in 2024 and then finished runner-up in this race last year and practically dominated it in 62nd running.
“I felt like we had a really good race car,” said Finch, who scored fast time in qualifying but started third with an invert. “We showed our speed in qualifying and it was no different during the race.
“It was just as good of a car, and really, one of the best cars I have ever driven. We just had whatever I needed to get out front. From there, it was just a matter of controlling the pace and controlling the race I’m just really proud of everyone at Ronnie Sanders Racing and the No. 18 car.
This was the fifth time that the eponymous Sanders has won the race, two in the 70s as a driver and now three more as an owner across stints with Casey Roderick and Finch.
Finch simply drove the car back to the front every time he lost the track position. He took the lead on 53 after his three-car invert and then again after a mix of tire strategies, and for good, with 49 to go when he went around Dylan Fetcho.
Kaden Honeycutt and Luke Yarbrough had not taken their extra pair of tires to that point and had hoped for a caution that never really came in time. Fetcho took his earlier. A caution did wave with eight laps to go when contenders John Bolen, the defending winner, and a third-place running Steven Chunn both fell of the pace.
On the ensuing restart, there was a crash involving Malcolm Spears, Connor Shelton and Jim Wall. It was a microcosm of the kind of day Wall, the defending Show Me the Money champion had, as he was caught up in a handful of incidents throughout the day.
Finch continued to execute on the next two restarts and drove away to his first hand-carved bear trophy.
Fetcho did make it back to second over the final run after taking his tires and was left disappointed.
“I hate running second,” he said. “Overall pretty good. After that pit stop, we were pretty good but ultimately just a little too tight to hold Jake off.”
Fetcho said there was a lot to consider with the timing of the stop.
“There were guys who didn’t stop, thinking it was going to rain,” Fetcho said. “It really screwed them because they never got tires.”
Earlier in the race, only Bolen had the same raw speed as Finch and stuck with him every step of the race once he drove his way from last to first. Bolen gambled on tire strategy, opting to hold off on changing tires until late in the race. The gamble did not pay off, as a long green flag run in the late stage of the race left the defending winner out of sync with the rest of the field, being the only driver on the set of tires from the start of the race. To add insult to injury, Bolen became the caution he needed, running out of gas in the closing laps.
Gage Gilby, Presley Johnson and Christopher Tullis completed the top five.
The Show Me the Money Series’ second round is scheduled for May 2 with the Spring Explosion 100.
62nd Alabama 200 Montgomery Motor Speedway March 7 2026
Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.
