Zach Riehl Joins List of Montana 200 Winners at Mission Valley

Zach Riehl won the 34th Montana 200 on Saturday at Mission Valley Super Oval, joining the list of winners of the historic event.

Riehl took the lead from Bryce Bezanson just past the halfway mark of the event, and led the rest of the way for one of the biggest wins of his career.

Already a winner this year in the Apple Cup 125 at Tri-City Raceway RMEC, Riehl dominated the second half of Saturday's race to add another marquee win to his resume.

"It feels great right now," said Riehl. "If you would have asked me at the hundred-lap mark, probably wouldn't have said the same. The race was fun.

"It was a lot of reds and yellows, but that happens at the racetrack. At the end, it all came together and we ended up winning."

Bezanson was poised for a second-place finish, but lost a right-front tire on lap 174. That promoted Alex Lessor to the second position, where he finished on the night.

Try as he might, Lessor was unable to find the speed to match Riehl or Bezanson before the latter's mishap.

"The 51 car [of Bezanson] and the 7 car [of Riehl] were fast," said Lessor. "They were killing me into one. I tried a whole bunch of different stuff, tried to do what they were doing. I could not do what they were doing. Congrats to the 7 team, they were definitely the class of the field tonight.

"I've got to thank my crew, though. We swung at the fence at the halfway break, made a bunch of changes, and made the car way better. It wasn't good enough to win this."

Zach's brother, Andrew Riehl, joined the podium, making for a great night for the Riehl family.

"I'm really happy for my brother, Zach," said Andrew Riehl. "Me and my dad made a bet before the race. Whoever wins, me and my brother, we can go to the sand dunes.

"I really like this track. Hopefully, we're going to do this next year."

Casey Jeske finished fourth, with 2024 Montana 200 winner Jason Jefferson rounding out the top five.

-Photo credit: Shari Garber

34th Montana 200 Unofficial Results