The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards heads to Winchester Speedway for the Winchester ARCA 200 on Sunday for the 22nd time. Drivers like Bob Keselowski, Tim Steele, Frank Kimmel, Dakoda Armstrong, Alex Bowman, Brandon Jones, Austin Wayne Self, Chase Briscoe along with a few others have found victory lane in Winchester and drivers like Christian Eckes, Riley Herbst, Shane Lee, Travis Braden, Kyle Benjamin, Chase Purdy all are looking to add their names to the list this weekend.
After Pocono, Dalton Sargeant cut the points lead held by Austin Theriault, but has much more ground to make up if he’s going to go head-to-head when the series gets to Kansas at the end of the season which is eight races away. Both drivers are looking to make a statement this weekend at Winchester. Sargeant has won three short track events (Salem, Iowa, and ORP) while Theriault has won two (Elko and Madison) which means Sargeant has a slight advantage heading to Winchester. Though Sargeant has more victories on the short tracks, Theriault leads the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge by 15 points and will look to extend his lead this weekend.
Coming off of the announcement of his extension with Venturini Motorsports, Eckes returns to the No. 15 New York Bus Sales Toyota Camry this weekend teaming with St. Joseph, Quebec native Raphael Lessard, and Zane Smith this weekend. All three drivers are chasing their first career victory in ARCA competition and this weekend could be where either of the three land in victory lane. Eckes and Smith have had strong runs at the short tracks this season with Eckes earning his career best finish at Elko and Smith earning his at Madison. Lessard missed Nashville after a qualifying crash sidelined him but he was able to make his debut at Salem where he finished 13th.
Gus Dean has been putting on a strong performance since his disappointing finish at Nashville. He hasn’t finished outside of the top-10 since he finished 23rd in Nashville and he’s starting to make a run for the points lead along with the SCOTT Rookie Challenge. He leads Brett Holmes by six points.
