Other Series PR

Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman/828 Logistics Toyota) backed up his performance in practice by taking his forth General Tire Pole Award of the season for tonight's ARCA Menards Series Fans with Benefits 150 at Iowa Speedway. Smith turned a fast lap at 24.182 seconds/130.262 mph to edge his Venturini Motorsports teammate Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) by just one one-thousanth of a second. In addition to being Smith's fourth pole of the season, it is Venturini Motorsport's 13th pole in 14 races so far.

At any given point in a season, drivers that chase the points championship in any racing series often look back and see where they left a significant number of points on the table. Whether it was an early-season crash that put the car out of the race early or a mechanical failure that resulted in being many laps down, when the season is over those points all add up.

The ARCA Menards Series annual visit to the seven-eighths mile Iowa Speedway is, as often the case, part of a double-header with another racing series. Most of the time, the ARCA teams race in conjunction with series that have fenders over their wheels such as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR XFINITY Series, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, and even short track touring series such as the ARCA/CRA Super Series and occasionally the open wheel USAC Silver Crown Series. But at Iowa, it’s perhaps the most unique doubleheader of the entire season.

General Tire and Dover International Speedway have reached a partnership agreement, making General Tire the entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race on Friday, Oct. 4 during the Monster Mile’s 50th Anniversary celebration, track officials announced today.

Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman/828 Logistics Toyota) recovered from a mid-race spin to win the ARCA Menards Series Menards 250 at Elko Speedway on Saturday night. Smith, who started seventh, was dominant throughout the race, able to drive way to a full straightaway lead on several occasions on his way to his third series victory of the season.

It’s been a remarkable season for Travis Braden (No. 27 MatrixCare/Consonus Health Care/Liberty Village Ford) so far. Braden, a back-to-back champion of the ARCA/CRA Super Series for super late models, made his first foray into the ARCA Menards Series in 2015 and scored an improbable victory in his debut race at Lucas Oil Raceway in suburban Indianapolis.

Gus Dean, driving for Win-Tron Racing and team owner Kevin Cywinski, used a unique pit strategy and some old-fashioned good luck to hold off an aggressive Joe Graf, Jr. (No. 77 EAT SLEEP RACE Ford) in a three-lap dash to the checkered. Graf began his racing career driving Bandolero cars at the three-eighths mile oval located in Elko New Market, just about 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul. He used that knowledge of the track to put himself in contention for what could have been his first career victory but came out on the short end of a fender-banging duel with Dean.

There’s a lot of rear-view mirror watching in the track championship battles as the 2019 season edges past halfway at South Boston Speedway.

One of the pleasant surprises of the 2019 ARCA Menards Series season has to be the charge by Munford, Alabama’s Bret Holmes to the front of the series championship point standings. Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet) sits second entering Saturday’s Menards 250 presented by MatrixCare at Elko Speedway, just 30 points behind leader Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota).

The hottest driver in all of motorsports right now isn’t Alex Bowman, winner of the recent Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. It’s not Simon Pagenaud, who drove to victory in the Indianapolis 500, either. Not to take away from either driver’s accomplishments, they aren’t the talk of the sport the way Hailie Deegan is.