ARCA Menard’s Race Turns Ugly When 16-Year-Old Retaliates Against Teammate on Final Lap and Wrecks Both Cars in What Is Second Incident in Month for Young Driver
Sean Hingorani is a 16-year-old who’s new to motorsports. He started racing less than two years ago but has been impressive in his short time behind the wheel, winning a couple of times this year in the ARCA Menard’s West Series. On Friday at Mid-Ohio, the Toyota Development driver won the pole in his fourth career start in the ARCA Menard’s Series.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t his success everyone was talking about after the race but the the ugly retaliatory move he made on his Venturini Motorsports teammate Dean Thompson on the final lap that ruined both drivers’ days. Interestingly, this is the second such incident for the young driver in less than a month.
Sean Hingorani stays up front in first half of ARCA Menard’s race
Sean Hingorani started on the pole next to Tyler Ankrum. The Truck Series regular got the jump on the green flag and stayed up front for the first half of the race until the scheduled break near the halfway point of the race. Hingorani stayed close behind in second the entire time.
After the lone scheduled pit stop of the race, Ankrum went out wide on the restart going into Turn 1, which allowed Jesse Love to pass and take the lead. The No. 15 stayed right behind. The youngster battled the points leader for several laps, and moments after crossing the start-finish line with 14 to go, Hingorani got loose coming out of Turn 1 and went off into the dirt. The loss of momentum allowed Andres Perez to pass and Venturini teammate Dean Thompson to get to his inside going into Turn 2.
On that turn, Thompson got by and made the pass. Eventually, with other cars experiencing mechanical issues, Thompson and Hingorani were running first and second with 10 laps to go. The two battled for the lead with eight to go when Hingorani got into the right rear of the No. 55 and moved him in Turn 12. On Turn 13, a left-hander, Thompson was now on the inside and went out wide, sending the No. 15 into the grass, where it spun before coming back on to the track just shy of the start-finish line.
Hingorani retaliates on last lap against teammate
On the final lap, Thompson held second after Tyler Ankrum had easily moved past him and was in cruise control, headed toward victory. It appeared Thompson was destined for his third consecutive runner-up finish of the year.
That all changed when he approached the No. 15, who was on the inside going into Turn 8. The two never made it to Turn 9 because Hingorani had retaliation on his mind, and just as the No. 55 was about to pass, he escorted him straight into the gravel pit. The youngster also ended up in the kitty litter.
“I don’t know that I like that,” Trevor Bayne said on the broadcast.
“I don’t like it at all,” Phil Parsons responded.
Moments later after Ankrum crossed the finish line for the win, the cameras returned to the sand trap and showed Thompson bending over outside of the driver’s side door of his teammate’s car having an animated conversation.
Thompson finished 10th. Hingorani finished 13th.
Wrecked another car last month in different series
At 16-year-old and still relatively new to the sport, Sean Hingorani has been impressive this year with a couple of wins in the ARCA Menard’s West Series.
Unfortunately, his on-track success has been overshadowed in the last month by his immature and dangerous actions. Friday night’s incident at Mid-Ohio was his second in a few weeks.
The first happened in mid-June at The Milwaukee Mile in a ASA STARS National Super Late Model Tour race when Hingorani got into the left rear of Justin Mondeik and sent him up the race track, before he came back down the track for a violent hit into the inside wall. Hingorani was penalized.
It’s easy to understand a 16-year-old being immature and making poor choices. However, most of the time, those decisions don’t occur while traveling at a high rate of speed with the potential of causing bodily harm to someone else. That’s the case for Hingorani and if he has any plans of pursuing a future in racing, he better grow up fast or he’ll quickly learn that no team will support him or his behavior, no matter how good he might be.
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