Sammy Smith Was Perfect At Salem

There was good on-track racing in the ARCA Menards Series race at Salem Speedway on Saturday (Oct. 1). It just was not for the lead. In his first trip to the 0.555-mile short track, Sammy Smith was perfect.

Smith posted the fastest time in the practice session, won the pole, then led all 200 laps en route to earning the win. Smith took his No. 18 Toyota out on a Sunday drive, cruising to his series-high fifth victory of the season.

The championship battle saw the top two tighten in points. Nick Sanchez now leads Daniel Dye by a precarious two points with only one race left in the season. Third-place Rajah Caruth saw his slim championship odds evaporate at Salem as mechanical woes ended his race with a 15th-place DNF.

200 laps are left in the 2022 ARCA season. With 95% of its events completed, how did the contenders fare at the high-banked Salem short track?

1. Sammy Smith

Ty Gibbs led 1689 laps in the 20-race 2021 ARCA season, an average of 84 laps led per race (84.45). In his 15 ARCA races in 2022, Smith has led 1026, an average of 68 (68.4). Gibbs enjoyed one of the greatest all-time ARCA campaigns en route to clinching the 2021 championship. Smith has won two ARCA Menards Series East titles, and although he will not win the main title, he’s been the class of the field.

Consider this statistic: Smith has completed 2,006 laps in the main season this year. Of those 2,006, he has led 1,026. Smith has led 51.1% of the laps in his ARCA events this season. The 18-year-old is already 17th on the all-time ARCA laps led leaderboard!

His Herr’s Snacks 200 victory adds to his resume, one which will surely grow as Smith progresses up the NASCAR ladder.

Winners at Salem! Thanks to the whole team and all my partners👊🏼🏆#11 pic.twitter.com/by3HwIYyXD

— Sammy Smith (@sammysmithSS) October 2, 2022

2. Nick Sanchez

Sanchez wheeled his No. 2 Chevrolet to a sixth-place finish at Salem, one spot lower than his starting spot of fifth. As a result, he lost three points to Dye.

“It wasn’t our best race by any means,” Sanchez told Frontstretch. “Going into the weekend, we knew we were going to struggle a little bit. Honestly, the beginning parts of the race were better than expected, and I guess at the end, the handling just went away a little bit. Try to build off that for Toledo [Speedway].”

Sanchez is preparing for the season finale at Toledo as he does for every other ARCA event. Regardless of the championship outcome, Sanchez has…