As the 2019 ARCA Menards Series comes to a close, the ARCA special award battles are wrapping up as well. While some award winners won’t be able to clinch their trophies until after the checkered flag falls at Kansas, some drivers have the opportunity to clinch awards one race early this weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. One of those special award battles that could wrap up early is the race for the Valvoline Lap Leader title, with Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman Toyota) currently leading the way.
Smith has led the most laps this season, sitting at a total of 659 laps led heading into LOR. It will be Smith’s last start of the season, as he will not be eligible to race at Kansas due to age restrictions. Smith holds a comfortable lead over second place Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) in the Valvoline Lap Leader standings, with Self having led 480 laps this year. Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota) sits third with 347 laps led. Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota) recently moved into fourth place with 294 laps led. Ty Majeski (No. 22 Crestliner Boats Ford) rounds out the top five in the standings with 112 laps led.
Realistically, the battle for the Valvoline Lap Leader title has come down to Smith and Self as the two drivers vying for the crown. Smith has a 179-lap lead over Self with 300 scheduled laps left in the 2019 season – 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway and 100 at Kansas. Smith can win the award if he exits the Herr’s Potato Chips with a margin of 101 laps led or more over Self. Self can win the award if he leads 180 more laps at Lucas Oil Raceway than Smith does, since Smith cannot run Kansas and therefore cannot lead any laps in that event.
The odds heavily favor young Chandler Smith in this scenario, leaving him as the favorite to win his second consecutive Valvoline Lap Leader award. Smith has 659 laps led and eight races led this season, which are very similar statistics to what he put up a year ago – 763 laps led and seven races led. It should be noted that Smith has only been eligible to run mostly on the short tracks over the past two seasons due to age restrictions keeping him away from the larger superspeedways. Smith has been able to lead the most laps for two straight years despite having a schedule roughly half of the length that the older, full-time series regulars can run. Leading the most laps in a season despite leading a single-digit number of races during the season is a rare feat of dominance. When Smith accomplished that last year, he became the first season-long lap leader to lead in seven or fewer races since Bob Keselowski in 1991, when Keselowski led 412 laps over seven of the season’s twenty races.
Smith would join some elite company if he does manage to win a second straight Valvoline Lap Leader award, as only six drivers in the last 40 years have paced the ARCA Menards Series in laps led in multiple seasons. All six of those drivers are former ARCA Menards Series champions. The last driver to accomplish that feat was 2015 series champion Grant Enfinger, who led the most laps in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Other drivers besides Enfinger that have led the most laps in multiple ARCA Menards Series seasons include Bobby Bowsher (two times; 1994-1995), Tim Steele (three times; 1993, 1996-1997), the aforementioned Bob Keselowski (four times; 1988, 1990-1992), Marvin Smith (five times; 1978-1982), and Frank Kimmel (eight times; 1998, 2000-2004, 2006, 2013). Kimmel and Marvin Smith each led the most laps in the series for a remarkable five consecutive seasons. It remains to be seen if Chandler Smith will follow in the footsteps of these drivers and win an ARCA Menards Series championship eventually to go along with his Valvoline Lap Leader award – or potentially, awards plural – but the numbers sure seem to point in his favor.
The Herr’s Potato Chips 200 Presented by Richmond Water Heaters will be the 19th and penultimate race on the 2019 ARCA Menards Series schedule. MAVTV will provide live television coverage from Indianapolis, Indiana’s Lucas Oil Raceway starting at 8:00 PM Eastern on Saturday, October 5. Live timing and scoring will be available free for all registered users on ARCAracing.com during all on-track activity. You won’t want to miss the final short track race of the 2019 season!
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