Michael Self Two-for-Two on ARCA Menards Series Short Tracks in 2019

Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) scored his second ARCA Menards Series win of 2019 with a dominant victory in Sunday’s rain-shortened Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway. Mother Nature intervened at lap 97, just shy of the halfway mark, and after a few laps behind the pace car the field was stopped at lap 101. The rain didn’t abate in time for the race to be restarted, giving Self his second straight short track win and the Venturini Motorsports team their third consecutive win to start the season.

Self qualified fourth on Saturday, and didn’t take long to work his way through to the front of the field once the race got under way. He passed General Tire Pole Award winner Carson Hocevar (No. 28 Scott’s/Berger Chevrolet/KBR Development Chevrolet on lap 28 and, with the exception of three laps led by Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman/828 Logistics Toyota) under the first caution flag of the afternoon, Self was in charge the rest of the way.

Despite a strong record of success on short tracks in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Self is known for his superspeedway exploits in the ARCA Menards Series. It has surprised some that Self has won the first two short track races of the season, but not him.

“In practice we knew we would be pretty good on race runs,” Self said. “We didn’t have a lot of qualifying speed but we kind of anticipated that. We just wanted to get the race underneath us. We needed a little cloud cover because our car reacted really well in the shade. That thing was just so easy to drive. It was a blast, man.”

Salem’s abrasive track surface chews tires up, even when the team hits on a perfect setup. That often forces drivers to be patient through the early parts of a run. Despite not pushing it hard, Self was still able to build a commanding lead.

“It speaks volumes about the work Shannon (Rursch) and the guys put in on this car,” he said. “I could just ride. Even our riding pace was still really fast. Good enough to go out and win this race.”

While Self celebrated his victory, he and his Venturini Motorsports teammates were thinking of driver Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota). Eckes was the series championship leader heading into the Salem race but was sidelined early Sunday morning by an undisclosed illness. He was replaced by Daytona winner Harrison Burton, who drove to an eighth-place finish after starting from the tail of the field due to the driver change.

“We’re racing with heavy hearts,” Self said. “This is not how I want to win. He had a really good car yesterday and he was going to be our number one competitor today. We’re thinking of you buddy. We know you’re going to be our number one competitor the rest of the way.”

Self and the rest of the ARCA Menards Series return to action on April 26 in the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway. The day starts with practice at 9:30 am ET/8:30 pm CT, followed by General Tire Pole Qualifying at 3:35 pm ET/2:35 pm CT, and concludes with the General Tire 200 at 6 pm ET/5 pm CT. The race will be televised live on FS1 while ARCA for Me members can follow with live timing & scoring, live track updates, and live chat at ARCARacing.com. New users can register for free with a valid e-mail address at ARCARacing.com/login.