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February 19, 2022

DuQuoin State Fairgrounds


March 11, 2022

Phoenix Raceway


April 23, 2022

Talladega Superspeedway

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ARCA Menards Series News and Rumors

  • ARCA champion Marvin Smith passes away: Marvin Smith, the 1978 and 1979 ARCA Menards Series driving champion, passed away Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, at Soin Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio. He was 77. Smith, whose 21 career ARCA Menards Series victories places him 10th all-time over the series’ 70 seasons, was a champion late model driver in the 1970s at Columbus Motor Speedway, Kil-Kare Raceway and Shady Bowl Speedway prior to his first ARCA start in 1978. Driving orange No. 1 Riverside Auto Parts cars fielded by four-time ARCA car owner champion Jim Coyle, Smith won the championship in his rookie season of 1978 and repeated the following season. Smith drove for Coyle from 1979-83, then drove cars owned by his brother, Carl Smith. Marvin Smith returned to Coyle in 1993-96 to bookend his ARCA career. Private burial services will be at David’s Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. (In part from ARCARacing.com) (11-18-21)
  • Clubb Racing signs Rita Thomason for partial ARCA schedule: Clubb Racing has signed Rita Thomason for a partial 2022 ARCA Menards Series schedule. The Alex Clubb owned team made the announcment on Facebook.
    Clubb Racing:     "Rita Thomason has signed on to drive four races for Clubb Racing Inc. in 2022 Thomason a Police Sergeant from Tuscaloosa, Alabama with a background in road course racing will begin her ARCA Menards career in the CRI #03 Saturday June 18th at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. Her second stop on the ARCA Menards schedule will be Friday July 8th at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Race number three will be Friday July 29th at the Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana. Rita will have her fourth ARCA Menards Series race of 2022 on Friday August 19th at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. Rita and the team are currently working on more races for the 2022 season pending sponsorship." (In part from Clubb Racing Inc. Facebook) (11-05-21)
  • Daniel Dye returing to GMS Racing for full 2022 ARCA schedule: GMS Racing announced today that 17-year-old driver Daniel Dye will return to the organization in 2022 and compete for a championship in the ARCA Menards Series. Dye joined GMS Racing midway through the 2021 season and found immediate success. Berlin Raceway was the site of Daniel's first career ARCA victory, with the No. 21 collecting four top-five finishes and one General Tire Pole Award. "I couldn't be more excited to return to GMS Racing and compete for a championship next year," said Daniel Dye. "Everyone at GMS does such a great job putting fast race cars on the track, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to drive one of their Chevrolet's." The ARCA Menards Series will open its 2022 season on the prestigious high banks of Daytona Internal Speedway, in Daniel's hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida. Veteran Crew Chief Chad Bryant will call the shots for Dye again next season. Daniel will also continue working within the Chevrolet Drivers Edge Development program, featuring industry-leading physical and mental training, engineering and technical support, simulation time, and more.  “We are excited to have Daniel back at GMS for the 2022 season. Daniel has a lot of potential and he grew a lot as a driver in 2021. Collecting your first win in a series is a big deal and I know that’s the first of many.” said GMS Racing President Mike Beam. (In part from GMSRacing.net) (10-29-21)
  • ARCA releases 2022 ARCA Menards Series schedule: The ARCA Menards Series in 2022 will race 20 times at 19 different tracks, opening with the series’ 59th visit to Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 19 and ending the season with a championship clash at the series’ home track, Toledo Speedway, in October. The season-opening race at Daytona will be held the same day as the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the World Center of Racing; the day before the Daytona 500. Other superspeedway events will be contested at Talladega Superspeedway, Kansas Speedway (twice), Charlotte Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway. Those races will be held in conjunction with NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and/or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events. Short tracks again will make up the backbone of the ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2022, with traditional races at Minnesota’s Elko Speedway, Michigan’s Berlin Raceway, Iowa Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Indiana’s Salem Speedway and Toledo Speedway all featured on the calendar. The series also will race at a pair of one-mile paved ovals in Phoenix Raceway and The Milwaukee Mile. All 20 ARCA Menards Series races in 2022 will broadcast live via FOX Sports or MAVTV Motorsports Network. The complete broadcast schedule, including event start times, will be announced at a later date. Full Schedule (In part from ARCARacing.com) (10-28-21)
  • Ty Gibbs wins the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship; Nick Sanchez wins Kansas race: Ty Gibbs did what he needed to do Saturday at Kansas Speedway to clinch the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship. He took the green flag to start the Reese’s 150. Gibbs, the 19-year-old from Huntersville, North Carolina, entered the final race of the season with a 34-point edge in the standings over second-place Corey Heim. That lead grew to 35 points when Gibbs qualified on the General Tire Pole on Saturday ahead of the Reese’s 150, his 11th General Tire Pole Award of the season. A car count of 25 on the initial entry list for the 100-lap race on the 1.5-mile paved oval meant Gibbs only needed to start the event to win the title. Which is fitting considering how dominant the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has been all season. Despite leading 99 of 102 laps in the race, Gibbs finished second to Nick Sanchez at Kansas to close the season. Which, in Gibbs words, did not matter at the end of the day. Gibbs, who also won the 2021 Sioux Chief Showdown and the CGS Imaging Four Crown in the ARCA Menards Series, ended the year as the runaway Valvoline Lap Leader award winner with a mind-boggling 1,689 laps led through 20 events. Race Results (In part from ARCARacing.com) (10-23-21)
  • Cancer heroes to be honored on ARCA cars at Kansas: Eight ARCA Menards Series drivers in the field for Saturday night’s Reese’s 150 at Kansas Speedway will sport the names of cancer heroes on the signature panels of their cars. Those eight different names were nominated by the cancer heroes’ family members or friends as part of the the Martin Truex Jr. and The NASCAR Foundation Honor a Cancer Hero Auction presented by AdventHealth. [Toni Breidinger, Parker Chase, Drew Dollar, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez, Kyle Sieg, DL Wilson, and Jack Wood will participate in the program.] (In part from ARCARacing.com) (10-19-21)
  • Jesse Love wins first career ARCA victory at Salem: [Jesse Love] muscled past [Ty] Gibbs on a restart with 45 laps to go and successfully held off the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for the remainder of the event to pick up his first ARCA Menards Series victory. Love, the defending ARCA Menards Series West champion and the current West Series points leader, earned his first national ARCA Menards Series win in his 15th series start dating back to last year. “After (the pass), it was ‘run like heck,'” Love said of the final 40 or so laps on the 0.555-mile paved oval in southern Indiana. “I did all I could to keep (Gibbs) behind me. Ty’s one of the best right now, and it feels good to beat him. We weren’t quite the best in the beginning, but at the end of the race, we were the best car on the race track.” Added Gibbs of the last green-flag run: “I felt like we just got too tight. I chose the bottom (on the final restart). I felt like it was going to be the better call on newer tires, the shorter way around, with more grip. I just messed up. We got in the dirty air, which kind of made it even tighter.” Race Results (In part from ARCARacing.com) (10-03-21)
  • ARCA champion car owner Briggs Cunningham III passes away: Briggs Cunningham III, the co-owner of the team that carried Chase Briscoe to the 2016 ARCA Menards Series national championship, passed away Wednesday. Cunningham was 89. Cunningham’s involvement in ARCA carried on his family’s legacy in motorsports that dated back 1930, when his father Briggs S. Cunningham founded what is now known as the Sports Car Club of America. The elder Cunningham is a two-time class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a three-time class winner in the 12 Hours of Sebring. He also captained a sailing team that won the famed America’s Cup. Cunningham III’s own motorsports legacy was created when he partnered with co-owner Kerry Scherer to create a powerhouse team that earned 40 ARCA Menards Series victories with 14 different drivers, including current NASCAR Cup Series stars Briscoe and Alex Bowman, Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric and fellow series winner Myatt Snider, NASCAR on NBC analyst Parker Kligerman, and Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. Cunningham never sought the spotlight. In a rare public appearance, he celebrated the 2016 ARCA championship with Briscoe, Scherer and crew chief Chad Bryant at the series’ awards banquet in 2016. Bryant purchased the assets of the Cunningham Motorsports organization in 2018 and continued to operate the team through 2020 before joining forces with GMS Racing to oversee that team’s ARCA program. (In part from ARCARacing.com) (09-29-21)
  • Ed Pompa to run Frank Kimmel throwback at Salem: Ed Pompa is one of the drivers participating in the series’ throwback weekend [at Salem Speedway]. The 58-year-old’s No. 10 Double H Ranch Toyota will resemble all-time ARCA Menards Series championships and wins leader Frank Kimmel’s neon yellow Menards car. “This year’s throwback was originally set up for last year,” Pompa explained. “So we just moved it to the 2021 race.” Pompa also ran a throwback scheme in 2019, when he sported a chrome car that resembled Darrell Waltrip’s NASCAR Cup Series ride of the 1990s. Pompa’s neon yellow ride is the result of the feedback he received a couple years ago. “I got some comments after the 2019 throwback, that throwbacks for the ARCA race should be ARCA-themed,” Pompa said. “OK, I get it, so I went with the ARCA driver with the most wins and most championships.” As was the case in previous races this season, the Double H Ranch logo on the hood of Pompa’s car at Salem will feature the names of Double H Ranch campers who were not able to physically attend camp in 2020 because of COVID-related lockdowns. “This year’s throwback, although not as impressive as the 2019 DW chrome car recreation, is definitely bright,” Pompa said. “(Car owner and spotter) Andy Hillenburg should have no problem finding me on the track, even if the power goes out. I realize I may have put a huge bullseye on my back by running this throwback, but I hope it works out OK. The neon yellow vinyl was almost as difficult to get as the chrome vinyl for the 2019 wrap.” (In part from ARCARacing.com) (09-28-21)
  • Jean-Philippe Bergeron joins David Gilliland Racing for three races: David Gilliland Racing [has] announced that Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada native Jean-Philippe “Bergy” Bergeron will join DGR to pilot a Ford Fusion with the ARCA Menards Series for three races to conclude the 2021 season. Bergeron will make his DGR debut at Salem Speedway for the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200. “We had the chance to see Jean-Philippe Bergeron perform on the oval track at the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna in February, and we are very happy to have him with us to finish the 2021 season,” David Gilliland, team co-owner, said. In addition to Salem, the Canadian driver will compete at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City on October 23 with the ARCA Menards Series, as well as Phoenix Raceway on November 6 with the ARCA Menards Series West. “It is an honor to be able to drive for one of the best developmental stock car teams in the United States,” Bergeron said. “You only get one chance to make a good first impression and I intend to give it my all to impress those who have encouraged and supported me over the past few years. I know that I am in good hands with DGR and this experience will certainly have a major impact on my career as a professional driver.” (In part from David Gilliland Racing PR) (09-28-21)
  • David Gilliland fined, suspended, placed on probation: Based on non-compliant activities on pit road after the ARCA Menards Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday Sept. 16, ARCA car owner David Gilliland has been fined $1,500, suspended for one race and placed on probation for the remainder of the 2021 season for violation of 2021 ARCA Rulebook Section 12-8.1, which references ARCA Member Conduct Guidelines. (In part from ARCARacing.com) (09-21-21)
  • Ty Gibbs wins at Bristol Motor Speedway: Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith could not have executed the plan more perfectly. With both the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and the No. 81 Engine Ice Toyota parked on the Bristol Motor Speedway frontstretch, facing each other with their bumpers touching, each driver roared his engine and punished his General Tires for an epic double burnout. Gibbs and Smith carrying out this apparent plan was possible thanks to the way the teammates dominated Thursday night’s Bush’s Beans 200 at the half-mile concrete oval in Bristol, Tennessee. Gibbs won the race after leading all 200 laps for his 10th victory of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series season. But it was Smith whose second-place run was more than enough to clinch the 2021 ARCA Menards Series East championship. As for Ty Gibbs, Thursday’s victory at Bristol was a big step for the 18-year-old in his own title quest. With two ARCA Menards Series races remaining (Salem Speedway on Oct. 2 and Kansas Speedway on Oct. 23), Gibbs has a 26-point lead over second-place Corey Heim in the championship standings. “This is just awesome,” Gibbs said. “This really means a lot to have all my guys there, and to have my teammate, my close friend, to wrap up his championship. It’s just awesome. Great night for our organization.” Race Results (In part from ARCARacing.com) (09-17-21)
  • Landen Lewis scores first career win at DuQuoin: Everybody now understands why Landen Lewis, at just 15, was pinned to run the pair of 2021 ARCA Menards Series dirt races for Rette Jones Racing Development and Austin Theriault Racing Development. Lewis, the Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, native who finished seventh in his ARCA debut a couple weeks ago on the Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, won Sunday’s Southern Illinois 100 presented by Lucas Oil at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. The rookie’s first win came in just his second ARCA Menards Series start, and it arrived in dominating fashion. Lewis qualified on the General Tire Pole early Sunday evening and proceeded to lead every lap of the race on the one-mile clay oval. “Right now I’m speechless,” Lewis said in Victory Lane standing next to his No. 2 19th Green Chevrolet owned by Max Siegel. “This wouldn’t be possible without any of my guys. (Crew chief) Mark Rette, (team co-owner) Larry Jones, Austin Theriault — everyone who’s made this possible for me. It’s a dream come true.” Full Results (In part from ARCARacing.com) (11-20-21)
  • Venturini Motorsports (#15 Team) fined and penalized after Milwaukee: Based on post-race technical inspection at the Sprecher 150 ARCA Menards Series / ARCA Menards Series East race at the Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 29, the Venturini Motorsports No. 15 team has been penalized for violation of 2021 ARCA Rulebook Section 20C-10.6F Rear Axle, which references rear wheel alignment. Crew chief Kevin Reed Sr. has been fined $1,000, and driver Jesse Love and team owner Bill Venturini Sr. have been penalized with the loss of five championship points (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, Sioux Chief Showdown), in addition to applicable special awards points. (In part from ARCARacing.com) (09-01-21)