What is Mark McFarland’s secret to success at the Milwaukee Mile? For the second straight ARCA Menards Series event at the 1-mile track in West Allis, Wis., McFarland guided his driver to a thorough beatdown on the competition en route to victory. In 2021, Ty Gibbs victoriously led every lap there. This year, Sammy Smith victoriously led a race-high 122 laps and finally gave the No. 18 team repeat wins at a racetrack.
There are only five ARCA races left this season, at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, Kansas Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Salem Speedway and Toledo Speedway.
The top five in the championship standings stayed the same. Nick Sanchez leads Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth, Greg Van Alst and Toni Breidinger.
POINTS – ARCA (15/20):
1. @Nicksanchez080 731pts
2. @danieldye43 (-11)
3. @rajahcaruth_ (-16)
4. @GregVanAlst35 (-107)
5. @ToniBreidinger (-117)
6. @amberbalcaen10 (-155)
7. @sammysmithSS (-156)
8. @DriverBradSmith (-215)
9. @TaylorGray17_ (-277)
10. @ZacharyTinkle (-286)— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) August 28, 2022
After the Sprecher 150, where did the contenders land in the power rankings?
1. Sammy Smith
In addition to tying for the ARCA series lead in victories with three, Smith also likely wrapped up his second straight ARCA Menards Series East championship. He unofficially leads Taylor Gray by 33 points with one race left in the East season at Bristol.
Consider this impressive stat from Smith’s win: of the 21 drivers who finished the race, only seven finished on the lead lap. So of the drivers who completed the Sprecher 150, only a third of them finished on the lead lap. Among those lapped drivers included series regulars Van Alst, Breidinger and Amber Balcaen,as well as East series full-time driver Leland Honeyman. Yes, Smith whooped the field on Sunday (Aug. 28).
The only mistake Smith made was he nearly drove his No. 18 into the outside wall as he began his celebratory burnout.
@sammysmithSS almost wrecked himself while burning it down pic.twitter.com/QsuqUjqEHu
— Small Budget Racing 🍉 (@BudgetRacing51) August 28, 2022
2. Taylor Gray
Although he finished 3.306 seconds behind Smith, Gray finished 2.089 seconds ahead of third-place Daniel Dye. Gray also led 28 laps, the only other driver besides Smith to lead in the Sprecher 150.
Curiously, Gray’s second-place finish was his first ever second-place finish in his ARCA career. Indeed, it was close but no cigar for Gray.
Strong day for the No. 17 team.
Lead some laps, but…
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