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ARCA Menards Series Championship Battle Begins to Come Into Focus Following Race at Five Flags

www.arcaracing.com March 19, 2019

The ARCA Menards Series championship picture has started to come into better focus following the second round of 2019 at Five Flags Speedway.

Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota), who many considered to be a pre-season favorite for the title, has jumped into the lead following his second top-five finish of the year. Eckes finished fourth in the season opener at Daytona and was third at Five Flags. He has 435 points, which gives him a 65-point lead over Travis Braden (No. 27 MatrixCare/Consonus Health Care/Liberty Village Ford). Braden is the only other driver to have finished in the top ten in both series races to this point, with an eighth-place finish at Daytona and a tenth-place run at Five Flags.

Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation/Southern States Bank Chevrolet) is third with 340 points. Holmes finished 18th at Daytona after being swept into an accident not of his making coming to the white flag while running third. He rebounded with a sixth-place finish at Five Flags.

Joe Graf, Jr. (No. 77 EatSleepRace.com Ford) is fourth with 300 points. Graf is still looking for his first top ten of the year. He was plagued by overheating issues at Daytona which dropped him several laps down and fought handling problems at Five Flags on his way to an eleventh-place run.

Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) won the race at Five Flags but was penalized 25 points for being low in post-race technical inspection. Self, another pre-season favorite for the title, was involved in an early-race crash at Daytona which put him deep in the standings.

Brad Smith (No. 48 HIE Publishing Ford) and Tommy Vigh, Jr. (No. 10 Extreme Energy Solutions Ford) are the other two drivers who have started both events so far in 2018. They are sixth and seventh, respectively, in the standings. Harrison Burton (No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota), who won at Daytona, Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy/ORCA Coolers/Advance Auto Parts Toyota), the runner-up at Five Flags, and Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman/828 Logistics Toyota), the fourth-place finisher at Five Flags, round out the top ten in the standings.

Nine drivers have earned at least one top-five finish and sixteen drivers have earned at least one top-ten finish in the first two ARCA Menards Series races of the year. Forty-eight drivers have made at least one start.

Practice for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 is set for 11 am ET on Saturday, April 13 with General Tire Pole Qualifying scheduled for 3 pm ET that afternoon. The green flag on round three of the 2019 ARCA Menards Series season will drop shortly after 2 pm ET on Sunday, April 14. The race will be televised live on MAVTV and ARCA for Me members can access live timing & scoring, live chat, and live track updates at ARCARacing.com. New members can register for free at ARCARacing.com/login.

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