In one month, the ARCA Menards Series season will be complete. With only four races remaining, the series wraps up its season on Oct. 5 at Toledo Speedway. As for its two other divisions, the ARCA Menards Series East has just one race left at Bristol Motor Speedway in two weeks (Sept. 19). The ARCA Menards Series West runs the latest into the calendar, concluding its season in conjunction with the NASCAR national series at Phoenix Raceway. The West series also has four races left this season.
With the series nearing their respective ends, what are some things to look forward to both this year and in 2025?
1. Will any full-time drivers win?
Good luck with that. Sixteen races into this season, not a single series regular has won yet. Combined, the top 10 in points have led 166 laps. Lavar Scott has led 144 of those, with 100 coming at Elko Speedway. Those 166 laps are still fourth highest, trailing William Sawalich — who has led a whopping 1,054 laps — followed by Connor Zilisch with 274 and Tanner Gray with 172.
Joe Gibbs Racing has led 1,226 laps and Pinnacle Racing Group has led 362. Those two organizations have led 1,588 of the 2,129 laps this season [74.5%]. Neither team fields a full-time driver.
So, to the series regulars, good luck beating JGR and Pinnacle. Venturini Motorsports is the only other victorious organization in 2024. To boot, Sawalich is competing in three of the remaining four ARCA races. Zilisch will compete at Bristol, Kansas Speedway, and Watkins Glen International.
This trend might continue.
This leads me to point No. 2.
2. Winless champion … good or bad?
For the second time in series history, the ARCA champion could be winless. Bob Dotter accomplished the feat in 1980. Amazingly, he also did not lead a single lap that season. In that nine-race season, he finished runner up three times, all at Flat Rock Speedway.
Fast forward 44 years, and Andres Perez could be crowned the driver’s champion without a win. Perez has led 19 laps, but his Rev Racing team has not been the best in the field. Yes, he could win at Kansas as Rev has won there before, but with the JGR No. 18 driven by Tanner Gray and the Pinnacle entries piloted by Zilisch and Corey Day in the field, it’ll be a tough challenge.
Otherwise, Perez has a fourth at Toledo, 12th at The Glen and one top five and two top 10s at Bristol. Even in his sophomore season, he won’t be the favorite to win at those. Furthermore, he…
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