One of the most enjoyable aspects of the annual ARCA Menards Series throwback weekend at Salem Speedway is the fan vote to determine the best appearing car with a throwback scheme.
Six cars with throwback looks participated in the fan vote, Tim Richmond’s No. 06 GreatRailing.com Dodge, which carried a Fred Lorenzen-themed scheme; Ed Pompa’s No. 11 Milwaukee Crusher/Double H Ranch Toyota, which carried Darrell Waltrip’s 1997 “chrome car” look; Christian Eckes’ No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota, which threw back to team owner Bill Venturini’s 1987 championship-winning short track car; Chandler Smith’s No. 20 Craftsman/828 Logistics Toyota, a throwback to Bill Venturini’s 1981 USAC/Rockford Speedway cars; Carson Hocevcar’s No. 28 GMPartsNow.com/Scott’s Coins/KBR Development Chevrolet, a throwback to the late Bruce VanderLaan’s Berlin Raceway championship-winning late models, and Gavin Harlein’s No. 55 Autism Awareness/#4Presley Toyota, which was a throwback to Tony Venturini’s 1950s stock car that was raced in the Chicagoland area.
The fans were very vocal in their support of their favorite, which unsurprisingly, was Pompa’s Waltrip throwback. In the early 1970s, Waltrip made the short trip from nearby Owensboro, Kentucky to Salem and won several times including the 1973 Midwest 300. Still one of the favorite sons of the Salem hills, Pompa earned an overwhelming majority of votes from the fans in the stands.
“This is probably the only trophy we’ll get here at Salem but we’ll take it,” Pompa said after being presented with the Jack Harrison Trophy, named for the first-ever ARCA Menards Series winner at Salem in 1955. “With this being Darrell’s last season on FOX and his history here at Salem it made a lot of sense for us to do the car up this way. I can’t thank my guys enough for putting in the hard work to make it happen. The car looks great, there’s no way you can miss it.”
Pompa went on to a season-best eleventh-place finish in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Fall Classic 200.
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