The two most recent ARCA Menards Series victors arguably were the two most deserving drivers from each event.
Ryan Unzicker became the first driver to win an ARCA event, at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, after starting outside the top 10 since Christian Eckes accomplished that feat in the 2019 season finale at Kansas Speedway. Unzicker led 63 of the 78 laps at the weather-affected event at the 1-mile dirt track.
Corey Heim followed suit by leading 101 of the 105 laps en route to winning the second ARCA event of the season at Kansas. Heim bookended his part-time ARCA campaign with victories in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and his last ARCA start of the season at Kansas.
ARCA finishes off its season with three different short tracks: Bristol Motor Speedway, Salem Speedway and Toledo Speedway. The championship battle has firmly become a two-driver contest. Nick Sanchez leads Daniel Dye by 12 points. Sanchez’s teammate Rajah Caruth wound up with back-to-back DNFs at DuQuoin and Kansas, so he fell to 38 points behind. Greg Van Alst and Toni Breidinger continue to hold down the top five in the standings in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
As the ARCA season nears its end, which drivers are still hot in these power rankings?
1. Nick Sanchez
Sanchez finished second at Kansas, extending his top 10 streak to eight with one win and seven top fives among those.
With his runner-up finish, Sanchez captured the General Tire Superspeedway Challenge championship for his Rev Racing team owner Max Siegel. The General Tire Superspeedway Challenge features races on the ARCA Menards Series schedule at paved ovals greater than 1.5 miles in length.
“To get Max Siegel that, that’s awesome and a testament to my team and all they do on these big tracks,” Sanchez said about the accomplishment.
Sanchez bested his championship contenders at Kansas, and he will need to continue that trend with three short tracks, which have not been his best ARCA circuits, to win the title.
Post-race comments from @TeamChevy driver @Nicksanchez080 (@GainbridgeLife)@kansasspeedway @ARCA_Racing pic.twitter.com/hoZUYvYzEE
— Rev Racing (@RevRacin) September 11, 2022
2. Sammy Smith
After finishing eighth, including accruing 10 stage points, in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas, Sammy Smith finished third in the ARCA event there. Yet he was not too pleased with the outcome.
“We kind of sucked all day,” Smith told MAVTV Motorsports Network post-race….
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