Chandler Smith Cleans Up in Special Awards at Toledo

Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman Toyota) cleaned up in the rain at Toledo, taking home most of the special awards to go along with his first ARCA Menards Series victory of the season. The rain-shortened win was Smith’s third career AMS win overall, with his two previous wins coming at Madison and Salem last year.

Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) kicked off the weekend by winning his first General Tire Pole award of the season, surprising himself in the process. Self’s only other pole in 25 ARCA starts came in a group qualifying session at Talladega last year. Chandler Smith has two General Tire Pole awards so far this season to lead the pack. Self joins Carson Hocevar (No. 28 KBR Development Chevrolet) and Venturini Motorsports teammates Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota) and Brandon Lynn (No. 20 Carolina Excavation Toyota) as drivers with one pole award each in 2019.

While Self won the pole, Smith was very eager to make his way to the top spot early on. Self led the opening 12 laps before Smith took over and never gave up the lead until the checkers fell early. Smith led 140 of the 152 laps before the rain grew too heavy for the race to continue. Smith now has a sizable lead in the Valvoline Lap Leader standings with 257 laps led on the year. Self drops to second with 152 laps led. Christian Eckes is the only other driver to break into the triple digits, sitting third with 129 laps led. Smith was the leader at the halfway mark and picked up the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader award for the first time this year.

Smith also took the lead in the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge standings with his win. Smith holds a narrow 870-860 points advantage over Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota), who finished second for the third time this year. Two-time short track winner Michael Self sits third with 810 points. Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet) and Corey Heim (No. 22 Speedway Children’s Charities Ford) round out the top five with 780 and 770 points, respectively. The Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge will take a few weeks off and return at Madison on June 14.

Smith’s win earned Billy Venturini, his car owner and crew chief, the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race nod for the fifth time this season. The Cometic Crew Chief of the race is awarded to the crew chief whose driver has the lowest combined starting and finishing positions. Venturini leads the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings with 32 points. Mark McFarland, crew chief of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team is in second with 64 points. Kevin Reed, crew chief of the No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota, is in third with 70 points.

The Bounty Rookie of the Race was awarded to Smith at Toledo for his win. In the Bounty Rookie Challenge Rookie of the Year standings, Tommy Vigh Jr. (No. 10 Extreme Kleaner Ford) remains the leader after picking up his first career top ten with a ninth at Toledo. Christian Eckes continues to make up lost ground, trailing Vigh by a margin of 158-146 points. Carson Hocevar sits in a distant third with 108 points, while Corey Heim falls to fourth after a disappointing day at Toledo with 106 points.

Bret Holmes managed to keep his nose clean at Toledo and retains the lead in the S&S Volvo Laps Completed standings. Holmes has completed 813 of a possible 815 laps in the 2019 AMS season. Several of his closest competitors have been involved in on-track incidents in recent weeks, leaving Holmes with a healthy advantage over the field. Tommy Vigh Jr. is in second with 754 laps completed. Travis Braden (No. 27 MatrixCare/Consonus Ford), who had been the overall championship points leader entering Toledo, crashed out for the first time this year and has completed 731 laps so far. Joe Graf Jr. (No. 77 Eat Sleep Race Ford) also found himself becoming acquainted with the Styrofoam blocks at Toledo during a crash and sits in fourth with 686 laps completed. Corey Heim completes the top five with 640 laps to his credit.

On the strength of their sixth win in as many races in 2019, Toyota continues to lead the manufacturer’s title chase with 54 points. Ford and Chevrolet are tied with 30 points and Dodge brings up the rear with 12 points.

A tight turnaround is in order for ARCA Menards Series teams this week, as the series heads back down south to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the General Tire 150 on Thursday, May 23, at 9:00 PM. Live television coverage can be found on FS1, while live timing and scoring will be provided on ARCARacing.com free for all registered users.