PIT BOX: Indy Provides Next Test For Contenders

Back-to-back speedways tested the ARCA Menards Series drivers at high speeds. Now, the championship chase heads to the close quarters racing of the Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

Not only is the the Calypso Lemonade 200 the fifth race of the championship slate, it’s also Round 2 of the Sioux Chief Showdown.

That means points and positions will be at a premium on the 0.686-mile short track for Friday night’s race, which will air live on MAVTV and TrackPass on NBC Gold.

RELATED: Chandler Smith Leads Sioux Chief Showdown To Indy

CALYPSO LEMONADE 200

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

One of the longest-standing formulas for winning racing championships is win the races you can and don’t give away points in the races you can’t win.

Veteran driver Michael Self is checking all those boxes in 2020.

The 29-year-old from Park City, Utah, has never finished worse than eighth in points in the six previous seasons in which he ran a full schedule. He finished fourth in the West in 2013 and 2017, despite missing a race in ’17, and second in the ARCA Menards Series last year.

Now Self has his sights set on bringing home that elusive title.

He’s driven the No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota to a win, a runner-up and two fifth-place finishes, which has allowed him to maintain a 10+ points lead in the standings.

His Venturini Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith is the defending race winner. By virtue of his win in the No. 20 JBL Audio Toyota at Phoenix Raceway in March, the 18-year-old from Talking Rock, Georgia, also leads the Sioux Chief Showdown standings.

Ty Gibbs is coming off wins in his last two times in a race car: at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway for the ARCA Menards Series East and this past weekend in the ARCA Menards Series at Pocono Raceway. He led 146 laps at Lucas Oil last year before getting clipped battling for the lead and eventually finishing 15th in the rain-shortened race.

RACING REFERENCE: Previous ARCA Menards races at Lucas Oil | ARCA Menards Drivers at Lucas Oil | 2020 ARCA Menards Series Standings | 2020 Sioux Chief Showdown Standings

RACE FACTS

RACE CENTER | ENTRY LIST | RACE EVENT GUIDE

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Calypso Lemonade 200 is limited to 35, including provisional positions. The first 24 cars in the field will be set two-lap qualifying for the Calypso Lemonade 200. The remaining spots will be awarded through the provisional process. This event will be run under the 2020 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: Two consecutive laps qualifying. No adjustments or repairs may be made on car after taking the green flag at Start/Finish line. All cars must make a qualifying attempt, and all drivers must practice before they can qualify.

RACE PIT STOP: No adding or moving tires to or from pit box once race has started. A maximum four (4) crew members may service car. No tires and fuel may be added outside of the break.

The Calypso Lemonade 200 will be 200 laps (137 miles) and is to be run in three (3) segments. The race will have  the first break, at or near the conclusion of Lap 70. The race will have  the second break, at or near the conclusion of Lap 140. At the conclusion of the break(s), vehicles will line up in the order they were running at the beginning of the break.

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: Per ARCA Rulebook, maximum number of tires allowed in pit box for use in race is six (6).