When Gio Ruggiero went to victory lane at Five Flags Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series East season opener, he became the newest winner in the ARCA platform.
As a consequence of the postponement of the ARCA Menards Series West race at Irwindale Speedway, ARCA has a three-week break between races, the longest for the rest of the season.
In the national series, 2023 champion Jesse Love, who won 10 of the 20 races, graduated to the NASCAR Xfinity Series. As such, who is on the shortlist to earn their first victory in one of the three ARCA series in 2024?
The Rev Racing Duo
Lavar Scott and Andres Perez de Lara, picked by the Frontstretch panelists to be the top two championship favorites, have the equipment, talent and experience to win in 2024. Perez de Lara finished runner up in the ’23 standings and he could have won at Michigan International Speedway if not for a blown engine. He accrued 10 top fives and 15 top 10s and led 87 laps.
At Talladega Superspeedway, he led 28 laps, second most to winner Love, en route to fourth. Perez ran well in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway before a last-lap crash resulted in a 12th-place showing. Perez de Lara is an instant favorite to win at Talladega. Remember, Nick Sanchez won there two years ago in the same Rev No. 2.
Scott meanwhile only ran a part-time slate in the national series in ’23 to accompany his full-time East run. Two racetracks in particular stand out for the 20-year-old: Dover Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway. At Dover, he started eighth and quickly drove to the front, leading laps 3-6. His No. 6 was fast, albeit borderline out of control. Scott never lost control of his racecar, but its ill-handling relegated him to fifth. If Rev can give him a better handling No. 6, Scott can lead more laps and should be inside the podium.
At Iowa, while William Sawalich dominated most of the race, Scott quietly finished fourth after starting third. Other than Sawalich and Ruggiero, does anyone have the speed to match those two? Scott’s performance there last year ought to give him a leg up on his competitors, battling for the trophy.
Kris Wright
Venturini Motorsports is stout at intermediate racetracks, especially at Kansas Speedway. VMS has won four wins in the last five years there, including Corey Heim’s 2020 triumph. Kansas is the lone racetrack to host ARCA twice and Kris Wright will be fast.
In his career there though, Wright has six total…
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