In the ARCA return to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) this past Friday (July 29), two of the four drivers in the race with the last name “Smith” dominated the competition, combining to lead all the laps. Chandler Smith led 111 laps en route to winning the Reese’s 200, marking his third straight ARCA victory at the 0.686-mile short track. Sammy Smith finished second, leading the other 89 laps.
The duo’s dominance left only six drivers on the lead lap, but the ARCA championship battle tightened. Rajah Caruth now leads Nick Sanchez by one point and Daniel Dye by five. These three are more than one race’s worth of points ahead of their competitors. Toni Breidinger is fourth in points, ahead of fifth place Greg Van Alst by one point.
After three races in July, where do the ARCA contenders fall in the Frontstretch power rankings?
1. Sammy Smith
Smith won the pole and led the opening 88 laps before Chandler Smith took control of the 200-lap race. Sammy Smith finished runner-up, 1.213 seconds behind Chandler Smith. Still, Sammy Smith gained the second-most points in the ARCA event at IRP.
“Yeah, just got too tight there in the end, I think,” Sammy Smith told Frontstretch post-race. “That restart was tough. I don’t know, I feel like a good job. He was able to get me, just couldn’t get back by him.”
Sammy Smith trails Brad Smith by 19 points for seventh place in the championship standings. The next track on the ARCA schedule is Michigan International Speedway (MIS). Although Sammy Smith has never competed there before, the No. 18 team won that race last year with Ty Gibbs. Interestingly, Smith has yet to win at a track where Gibbs was victorious last year. Will that feat occur in Brooklyn, Mich.?
2. Taylor Gray
Taylor Gray quietly finished third, unable to catch the top two in the ARCA event at IRP. Despite only competing part-time, Gray leads ARCA with three victories and he also is tied for the most top five finishes.
Following his ARCA race, Gray then jumped into the No. 17 Ford for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race also at IRP. He had a shot at his first career Truck win, but John Hunter Nemechek spun Gray out from the lead. Gray was understandably mad after the race and he declined to speak to Frontstretch.
Heart broken is all I can say. Thank you @dgr_racing @FordPerformance
— Taylor Gray (@TaylorGray17_) July 30, 2022
3. Rajah Caruth
Caruth entered IRP with a new crew chief. After Brad Means served as…
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