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Part Time Drivers Making Impact in Battle for 2019 ARCA Menards Series Championship

www.arcaracing.com March 28, 2019

One of the major challenges the five ARCA Menards Series championship contenders face throughout the season, other than fighting each other for wins, is losing valuable championship points to part-time drivers.

Each position on the track in an ARCA Menards Series event is worth five points. Without taking bonus points into account, finishing four positions behind a championship rival means 20 points at the end of the season.

Part timers swept the top three positions at Daytona, with Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota) the highest full time series driver in fourth. The next three drivers in the final finish at Daytona were part timers, with Travis Braden (No. 27 MatrixCare/Consonus Health Care/Liberty Village Ford) the second-highest finishing series regular in eighth. Those four positions, as mentioned above, are worth 20 points in the standings. 

The third highest finishing full timer at Daytona? Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation/Southern States Bank Chevrolet) all the way back in 18th.

When looking at the points reports following the Daytona race, that’s a lot of points to give up to drivers you’re trying to beat for the championship. It’s even more frustrating to give those points up to drivers that may only be racing in a very limited schedule.

Fast forward to the first short track race of the season at Five Flags. Championship contender Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota), who was 31st at Daytona after an early-race crash, rebounded with his first win of the season. Second-place finisher Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy/ORCA Coolers/Advance Auto Parts Toyota) is a part-time driver, but has committed to chasing the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge title so despite not being eligible for the overall series title, Gibbs is racing for a championship and counting points. Eckes was third, with Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman/828 Logistics Toyota) was fourth and Corey Heim (No. 22 Speedway Children’s Charities Ford) in fifth. Smith and Heim are both joining Gibbs in a battle for the short track championship.

Holmes was sixth and Braden was back in tenth, behind part-timers Connor Okrzesik, Raphael Lessard, and Kaden Honeycutt.

Eckes leads Braden by 65 points after the second race of the season. Eckes has earned 15 bonus points for winning the pole at Daytona and for leading laps in both races so far, while Braden has yet to earn any bonus points. So far, part time drivers have accounted for eight position’s worth of difference between Eckes and Braden on the track, which translates into 40 points.

Braden will try to close the gap on Sunday, April 14 in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway. Practice and qualifying are set for Saturday, while the race will go green at 2 pm ET and be televised live on MAVTV. ARCA for Me members can access free live timing & scoring, live track updates and live chat at ARCARacing.com; new members may register for free by providing a valid email address at ARCARacing.com/login.