Concord, North Carolina (October 16, 2018) – Last year’s Kansas race winner Michael Self (No.15 Sinclair Oil Toyota) will make his final appearance of the year when the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards returns to Kansas Speedway for the series’ Kansas 150 finale on Friday, October 19.
Flying the colors of his home state sponsor, Sinclair Oil, Self has earned two victories in just nine starts on the season driving for Venturini Motorsports. Self, who kicked-off the year in dramatic fashion winning on racing’s biggest stage – Daytona – in ARCA’s season opener, went on to pick up his third career victory mid-summer at Chicagoland Speedway. In addition to Self’s two season victories, the veteran driver has recorded five top-5 finishes, one General Tire Pole Award and has led 163-laps so far during his limited action.
Looking to end his season on the same high-note it started (from victory lane), the 27-year old Utah native enters Friday’s contest confident in his team’s ability to cap off the season with another strong showing.
“I’m really excited to get back to a track that I really enjoy and had success at,” said Self. “I love racing at the intermediate tracks, and there’s something about going to Kansas Speedway in mid-October for the season finale that makes it one of the more enjoyable races of the year.
We’ve had some really good runs in the 15 car this year and Kevin Reed and his guys have been on fire lately, so I’m excited to be back with them and trying to end the year how we started it with Venturini Motorsports and Sinclair Oil.”
VMS and No.15 team, with Kansas start, set to lock-up second-place in 2018 Owner Points Championship
By virtue of his upcoming Kansas start, Self, who is one of three different VMS drivers in 2018 to pilot the No.15 Toyota, will help secure the team’s runner-up finish in the ARCA series’ car owner point championship.
Of the 19 season starts made by the No.15 car leading up to the Kansas finale, driver, Christian Eckes’ 13 seat appearances lead the way behind Self’s five and Chandler Smith’s one start. Led by crew chief, Kevin Reed, the fifteen-car has earned six victories and four pole positions. The team’s six wins is most by any series’ car competing in the full ARCA schedule.
Kansas 150 – Broadcast and Race Schedule
There is one final race in the 2018 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season, the Kansas ARCA 150 at Kansas Speedway, scheduled for Friday, October 19. Practice is scheduled at 11:30 am ET/10:30 am CT, General Tire Pole Qualifying is set for 6:05 pm ET/5:05 pm CT, and the green flag slated to wave on the season finale at 8:30 pm ET/7:30 pm CT. The race will be televised live on either FS1 or FS2, depending on Major League Baseball playoffs; ARCARacing.com will have live timing & scoring, track updates, and scanner audio during all on-track sessions for registered users.
ABOUT VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS:
Over the last 35-years Venturini Motorsports (VMS) has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in professional motorsports. Known for long-time dominance in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, Venturini Motorsports is held in high regard as one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the county. Since 2007, VMS has specialized in the career development of some of today’s top racing talent including current NASCAR “Stars” – Joey Logano, Erik Jones, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Darryl ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr., Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Ben Rhoads, Ryan Reed, Brandon Jones, Matt Tifft, Brennan Poole, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Haley and Todd Gilliland. Integrity, dedication and continuous innovation paired with years of on-track success has helped define Venturini Motorsports as one of the longest tenured teams in all of modern day racing. In 2012, the Venturini racing family was recognized for their collective achievements and inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame – now finding themselves enshrined with such sports icons as Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti, Chip Ganassi, Andy Granatelli, Vince Lombardi, Tommy Lasorda and Rocky Marciano.