Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge to be Settled in Herr’s 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway

There is a sizable group of young drivers – some not yet eligible to drive on the street, all not yet eligible to vote – that have become regular contenders to win every time the ARCA Menards Series races on tracks one mile in length and under.

ARCA’s rules prohibit drivers under 18 years of age from racing at most tracks longer than one mile. In 2015, the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge was started to give young drivers, who by rule were not allowed to race for the overall series championship, a chance to race for the championship of a series within the overall series. Young drivers are still learning and occasionally make mistakes so the series built in a mulligan for them: only a driver’s ten best finishes out of the eleven races on the schedule will count towards the championship.

Kyle Weatherman won the first, followed by series champions Chase Briscoe, Austin Theriault, and Sheldon Creed. The battle to be king of the short tracks this year involves three drivers: leader Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota), fourth-place Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota) and sixth-place Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy/ORCA Coolers/Terrible Herbst/Advance Auto Parts Toyota).

Self, 27 years of age from Salt Lake City, Utah is the veteran of the group. He is the only driver of the three title contenders to have been in all ten short track races to this point. His worst finish was 15th at Nashville, so if he finishes higher than that in the Herr’s Potato Chips 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway, he will add points to his total.

Eckes, 18, from Middletown, New York, sits fourth in the standings, but is in the best position of the three. If he finishes in the top three, he wins regardless of what anyone else does. If he finishes ahead of Self and Gibbs, he also wins the title. Eckes has a little extra confidence headed to Lucas Oil Raceway, he is the defending winner of the race. Eckes missed the spring race at Salem due to illness, so he will not have a finish to replace.

Self will need a little help to win the title. If he wins, he’ll need Eckes to finish fourth or worse. If Self finishes second or worse, he needs to finish five positions better than Eckes to win.

Gibbs, 17, from Huntersville, North Carolina, comes to Lucas Oil Raceway off a victory in the last series event at Salem. He must finish sixth or better to have any chance to take the title. If he wins, he needs Self to finish eighth or worse and Eckes to finish 13th or worse. If Gibbs finishes second through sixth, he must finish nine positions ahead of Self and 14 positions ahead of Eckes.

Outside of the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge title contenders, several other young hotshoes will be in competition including 16-year-old Sam Mayer (No. 21 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet). Mayer will come to Lucas Oil Raceway for Saturday’s race fresh off racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Dover, where he will be attempting to clinch the series championship. Mayer has three K&N Pro Series wins so far in 2019, but is still looking for his first career ARCA Menards Series win. He finished fifth at Salem two weeks ago and earned his best career finish, second, at the half-mile Indiana oval in the spring.

Another young driver looking for his first career victory is Portage, Michigan’s Carson Hocevar (No. 28 GMPartsNow.com/Scott’s Coins/KBR Development Chevrolet). Hocevar, 16, will be making his 15th career series start in the Herr’s Potato Chips 200. He finished third at Salem in the spring, his best career finish, and has nine top-ten finishes in his eleven starts so far this season.

The ARCA Menards Series returns to action on Saturday October 5 with the Herr’s Potato Chips 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway. Practice starts the day’s activities at 2 pm ET, with General Tire Pole Qualifying at 5 pm ET. The 200-lap main event, scheduled for live broadcast MAVTV, will go green shortly after 8 pm ET. ARCA for Me members can access live timing & scoring, live chat, and live track updates at ARCARacing.com. New users can register for free with a valid email address at ARCARacing.com/login. Discounted adult general admission tickets are available through October 4 at Indianapolis-area Menards locations for just $20. For more information, please visit TrackEnterprises.com.