Event statistics following the third race of the 2018 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season, the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 on Sunday, April 22, at Salem Speedway in Indiana.
Christian Eckes earned his first career ARCA victory, holding off Chandler Smith, who crashed in Turn 1 on the final lap. Zane Smith finished second, 1.650 seconds behind Eckes.
Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200
Salem Speedway – Salem, Indiana
- Winner (starting position): Christian Eckes (6th)
- Top Five: Christian Eckes, Zane Smith, Sheldon Creed, Josh Berry, Chase Purdy
- Full Results: Christian Eckes, Zane Smith, Sheldon Creed, Josh Berry, Chase Purdy, Riley Herbst, Gus Dean, Colby Howard, Brandon Grosso, Chandler Smith, Joe Graf Jr., Will Kimmel, Bret Holmes, Travis Braden, Mike Basham, Thad Moffitt, Natalie Decker, Jack Dossey III, Thomas Praytor, Dale Shearer, Con Nicolopoulos, Richard Doheny, Matt Dooley, Mark Meunier
- Laps Completed: 200
- Laps Led: Chandler Smith (117), Christian Eckes (72), Josh Berry (10), Zane Smith (1)
- Pole Position: Chandler Smith (118.618 mph; 16.844 seconds)
- Hard Charger: Brandon Grosso (+8; 17th to 9th)
- Margin of Victory: 1.650 seconds
- Car Count: 24
- Cars Entered: 24
- Cars Running at Finish: 16 (of 24; or 67 percent of the field)
- Drivers to Finish on Lead Lap: 9
- Cautions: 5 for 40 laps
- Average Speed: 73.110 mph
- Lead Changes: 12
Notes of Interest – Race/Weekend Recap
- This is Christian Eckes’s first career ARCA victory. The victory came in his 16th career race.
- Eckes’s victory marked the second consecutive race in which a driver won his first career race. Zane Smith won his first race earlier this month at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.
- Eckes is the third driver in as many races this season to win a race, joining Smith and Michael Self, who won at Daytona International Speedway in February.
- It marked Eckes’s second top 10 in two races this season. Eckes has finished in the top 10 in 12 of his 16 career ARCA races.
- Eckes won from the sixth starting position, the first time a driver has won from sixth this season (and first since the 2016 race at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin; race won by Josh Williams).
- Toyotas have won each of the first three races.
- Zane Smith finished second, his second top-five finish in as many races. Smith led one lap, and is the only driver to lead at least one lap in all three races this season.
- Sheldon Creed finished third, rounding out a podium sweep for Toyota. Creed has finished second or third in all three races this season, and is the only driver to finish in the top-five in all three races in 2018. Creed assumed the points lead in the process from Michael Self, who did not compete in the race.
- Creed is also the only driver to complete all 492 laps this season.
- Josh Berry finished fourth in his series debut, the only driver to break up Toyota’s stranglehold on the top-six finishing positions. Berry also led 10 laps.
- Chase Purdy finished fifth, earning his first career top-five finish in six career ARCA races.
- Riley Herbst finished a season-best sixth, advancing seven positions from the 13th starting position. He has two top 10s this season.
- Gus Dean finished a season-best seventh in the highest-finishing Chevrolet.
- Colby Howard finished eighth in his series debut, the second driver to earn a top 10 in his debut this race.
- Brandon Grosso finished ninth for the second consecutive race, the final driver to finish on the lead lap.
- Chandler Smith led a race-high 117 laps from the pole position, and finished 10th, crashing in Turn 1 on the final lap while battling for the lead. This marks the second race this season in which the driver that led the most laps did not win the race.
- Smith earned the pole, his series-leading second pole of 2018.
- Con Nicolopoulos finished 21st in the only Dodge in the field.
- In addition to Berry and Howard, five other drivers made their season debuts: Jack Dossey III (18th); Dale Shearer (20th); Richard Doheny (22nd); Matt Dooley (23rd); and Mark Meunier (24th).
- Others to record or tie season-best finishes were: Joseph Graf Jr. (11th); Will Kimmel (12th); Travis Braden (14th); and Mike Basham (15th).
- A total of 16 cars finished the race.
- A total of eight drivers improved on their starting position in the race.
- The next race will be Friday, April 27, with the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
No comments:
Post a Comment